Abstract
Stable and spectrally narrow lasers are important for the development of optical frequency standards and also for precision measurements of fundamental constants, high resolution spectroscopy, and other fundamental tests of physics. Here we describe a subHertz laser and its use in an optical frequency standard that is based on the narrow 2S1/2-2D5/2 electric quadrupole transition (λ ≃ 282 nm) of a single trapped 199Hg+ ion. The ion is suspended in vacuum by well-controlled electric and magnetic fields and laser-cooled to low kinetic temperatures. A small linear trap has been constructed that gives Lamb-Dicke confinement for the cold ion even for the S-D optical transition. The trap will be housed in a vacuum enclosure that is fixed to the bottom plate of a liquid helium dewar. Operation of the trap at cryogenic temperatures gives long ion storage times and significantly suppresses frequency shifts due to collisions and blackbody radiation. The S-D quadrupole transition has a natural linewidth less than 2 Hz and, in a room-temperature trap, we have already demonstrated that transitions into the D state can be detected with nearly 100% efficiency by means of electron shelving.
© 1999 Optical Society of America
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