Threshold and frequency properties of a cold ytterbium laser

TL;DR

This paper studies the lasing behavior of laser-cooled ytterbium atoms in a high-finesse cavity, analyzing threshold and frequency properties and comparing experimental results with theoretical models.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the lasing threshold and frequency characteristics of ytterbium laser, expanding understanding of atom-cavity interactions in this system.

Findings

Lasing occurs via a two-photon transition in cooled ytterbium atoms.

Threshold and frequency properties are quantitatively characterized.

Experimental results are compared with theoretical models for validation.

Abstract

We investigate properties of the lasing action observed on the 1S0--3P1 intercombination transition of ytterbium atoms that are laser-cooled and -trapped inside a high-finesse cavity. The dressing of the atomic states on the 1S0--1P1 transition by the magneto-optical trap (MOT) laser light allows the coupled atom-cavity system to lase, via a two-photon transition, on the same line on which it is pumped. The observation and basic description of this phenomenon was presented earlier by Gothe et al. [Phys. Rev. A 99, 013415 (2019)]. In the current work, we focus on a detailed analysis of the lasing threshold and frequency properties and perform a comparison to our theoretical models.