Absolute frequency measurement of the magnesium intercombination transition $^1S_0 \to ^3P_1$

Abstract

We report on a frequency measurement of the $(3s^2)^1S_0\to(3s3p)^3P_1$ clock transition of $^{24}$Mg on a thermal atomic beam. The intercombination transition has been referenced to a portable primary Cs frequency standard with the help of a femtosecond fiber laser frequency comb. The achieved uncertainty is $2.5\times10^{-12}$ which corresponds to an increase in accuracy of six orders of magnitude compared to previous results. The measured frequency value permits the calculation of several other optical transitions from $^1S_0$ to the $^3P_J$-level system for $^{24}$Mg, $^{25}$Mg and $^{26}$Mg. We describe in detail the components of our optical frequency standard like the stabilized spectroscopy laser, the atomic beam apparatus used for Ramsey-Bord\'e interferometry and the frequency comb generator and discuss the uncertainty contributions to our measurement including the first and second order Doppler effect. An upper limit of $3\times10^{-13}$ in one second for the short term instability of our optical frequency standard was determined by comparison with a GPS disciplined quartz oscillator.