Towards a magnesium optical lattice clock

The authors report on the recent progress in setting up a magic wavelength optical lattice for magnesium. At the magic wavelength for the ¹S₀ →³P₀ transition of Mg, which has been predicted to be at 463 nm, the differential AC Stark shift of the intercombination transition cancels out. Currently, the authors investigate to establish the optical lattice inside an optical resonator to enhance the trap depth and the loading of this lattice. Furthermore, the tight confinement of the atoms in the lattice will enable us to reach the Lamb-Dicke regime, allowing first order Doppler-free spectroscopy.