Development and Evaluation of a Narrow Linewidth Laser System for 171Yb+ E2 Transition

TL;DR

This paper presents the development of a narrow-linewidth laser system at 436 nm for interrogating the E2 transition in ytterbium ions, achieving high stability and ultra-narrow linewidth suitable for precision measurements.

Contribution

The work introduces a novel laser system with sub-Hz linewidth and high stability, integrated with a fiber comb referencing technique for ytterbium ion spectroscopy.

Findings

Sub-Hz laser linewidth achieved

Stability better than 2E-15@1-100 s

Verified wavelength extension ports at 871 nm

Abstract

We report the construction and characterization of a narrow-linewidth laser system to interrogate the E2 clock transitions at 436 nm of ytterbium ions trapped in end-cap traps. The 871 nm seed laser at the fundamental frequency is referenced to a 10 cm long notched ULE cavity. The output of the laser system is delivered to a narrow-linewidth femtosecond fiber comb, which has been referenced to an ultrastable 698 nm laser, with a phase noise-canceled fiber link. The beat between the laser and the comb shows a sub-Hz linewidth, and with a stability better than 2E-15@1~100 s. The performance of the self-developed wavelength extension ports at 871 nm of the narrow linewidth erbium-doped fiber comb with single-point frequency-doubling technique is also verified.