Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0808.4061

Frequency Metrology on single trapped ions in the weak binding limit: The 3s1/2-3p3/2 transition in 24-Mg+

M. Herrmann·V. Batteiger·S. Knünz·G. Saathoff·Th. Udem·T. W. Hänsch
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We demonstrate a method for precision spectroscopy on trapped ions in the limit of unresolved motional sidebands. By sympathetic cooling of a chain of crystallized ions we suppress adverse temperature variations induced by the spectroscopy laser that usually lead to a distorted line profle and obtain a Voigt profile with negligible distortions. We applied the method to measure the absolute frequency of the astrophysically relevant D2 transition in single 24-Mg+ ions and find 1072082934.33(16)MHz, a nearly 400fold improvement over previous results. Further, we find the excited state lifetime to be 3.84(10) ns.

Explore related subjects

physics.atom-ph

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

M. Herrmann, V. Batteiger, S. Knünz, G. Saathoff, Th. Udem, T. W. Hänsch. 2009-01-16. Frequency Metrology on single trapped ions in the weak binding limit: The 3s1/2-3p3/2 transition in 24-Mg+. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.102.013006

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Delay-engineered dynamical phases in a programmable non-Markovian spin oscillator

Non-Markovian dynamics offer a new route towards engineering non-equilibrium matter, where memory and feedback act as programmable resources for controlling order in time. Here we report the realization of a non-Markovian spin oscillator in a hot vapour $^{129}$Xe-Cs co-magnetometer with programmable feedback delay and gain. By tuning these parameters, we observe a hierarchy of dynamical phases, including time-crystalline response, nonlinear bifurcations, and frequency-comb formation. The measured spectra and phase boundaries are captured by linear stability analysis of delayed Bloch equations, revealing these phenomena as different manifestations of the same memory-induced instability structure. These results establish time-delayed feedback as a powerful strategy for controlling non-equilibrium phases, enabling quantum sensing, frequency referencing, and synchronization within a single spin-based platform.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2026

Non-stick vacuum wall collisions with a laser-coolable molecule

Molecular species that are suitable for direct laser cooling are typically considered lost or destroyed if they collide with an ambient temperature vacuum wall. Here, we study surface collisions with aluminum monofluoride (AlF), a laser-coolable molecule that survives this process with unusually high probability. We detect the outgoing AlF molecules from a single wall collision via Doppler-sensitive laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy, using incoming supersonic (pulsed) and thermochemical (continuous) molecular beams. The angular, velocity and rovibrational level distributions of the outgoing molecules show near-complete thermalisation to the wall in a single collision event. We determine an upper limit to the surface residence time of about 5$~\mu$s, and by monitoring the decay in density of pulses of molecules loaded into a small storage volume, we deduce the surface sticking probability for different materials. For a siloxane-coated metallic surface, the sticking probability of AlF is about 0.015, allowing us to accumulate molecules from the thermochemical source into an ambient temperature storage vessel at densities near $10^{8}~$cm$^{-3}$. This provides a route to compact, portable traps for neutral molecules.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2026

Kinetic modeling of molecular beam formation in a cryogenic buffer-gas cell

Cryogenic buffer-gas cells are widely used to produce cold molecular beams, but the microscopic dynamics governing beam formation remain challenging to model. Here we present fully kinetic simulations of a cryogenic buffer-gas cell using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method implemented in the PICLas framework, treating the buffer gas and ablated molecules within a single unified model. We capture characteristic features of cryogenic buffer-gas sources, including plume cooling, directed transport toward the aperture, and the formation of a slow molecular beam, while also resolving energy transfer from the hot ablation plume to the helium buffer gas that is inaccessible to existing approaches relying on the background-gas approximation. Our results demonstrate that fully kinetic simulations can provide detailed insights into buffer-gas cell dynamics and open a route toward a systematic optimization of such sources.

physics.atom-ph↗