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arXiv · 2307.07646

Implementing an electronic sideband offset lock for precision spectroscopy in radium

Tenzin Rabga·Kevin G. Bailey·Michael Bishof·Donald W. Booth·Matthew R. Dietrich·John P. Greene·Peter Mueller·Thomas P. O'Connor·Jaideep T. Singh
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Abstract

We demonstrate laser frequency stabilization with at least 6 GHz of offset tunability using an in-phase/quadrature (IQ) modulator to generate electronic sidebands (ESB) on a titanium sapphire laser at 714 nm and we apply this technique to the precision spectroscopy of $^{226}$Ra, and $^{225}$Ra. By locking the laser to a single resonance of a high finesse optical cavity and adjusting the lock offset, we determine the frequency difference between the magneto-optical trap (MOT) transitions in the two isotopes to be $2630.0\pm0.3$ MHz, a factor of 29 more precise than the previously available data. Using the known value of the hyperfine splitting of the $^{3}P_{1}$ level, we calculate the isotope shift for the $^{1}S_{0}$ to $^{3}P_{1}$ transition to be $2267.0\pm2.2$ MHz, which is a factor of 8 more precise than the best available value. Our technique could be applied to countless other atomic systems to provide unprecedented precision in isotope shift spectroscopy and other relative frequency comparisons.

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Tenzin Rabga, Kevin G. Bailey, Michael Bishof, Donald W. Booth, Matthew R. Dietrich, John P. Greene, Peter Mueller, Thomas P. O'Connor, Jaideep T. Singh. 2023-07-14. Implementing an electronic sideband offset lock for precision spectroscopy in radium. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.500578

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