Nuclear spin quenching of the $^2S_{1/2}\rightarrow {^2}F_{7/2} $ electric octupole transition in $^{173}$Yb$^+$

Abstract

We report the coherent excitation of the highly forbidden $^2S_{1/2} \rightarrow {^2}F_{7/2}$ clock transition in the odd isotope $^{173}\mathrm{Yb}^+$ with nuclear spin $I = 5/2$, and reveal the hyperfine-state-dependent, nuclear spin induced quenching of this transition. The inferred lifetime of the $F_e = 4$ hyperfine state is one order of magnitude shorter than the unperturbed ${^2}F_{7/2}$ clock state of $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^+$. This reduced lifetime lowers the required optical power for coherent excitation of the clock transition, thereby reducing the AC Stark shift caused by the clock laser. Using a 3-ion Coulomb crystal, we experimentally demonstrate an approximately 20-fold suppression of the AC Stark shift, a critical improvement for the scalability of future multi-ion $\mathrm{Yb}^+$ clocks. Furthermore, we report the $|^2S_{1/2},F_g=3\rangle~\rightarrow~|^2F_{7/2},F_e=6\rangle$ unquenched reference transition frequency as $642.11917656354(43)$ THz, along with the measured hyperfine splitting and calculated quadratic Zeeman sensitivities of the ${^2}F_{7/2}$ clock state. Our results pave the way toward multi-ion optical clocks and quantum computers based on $^{173}\mathrm{Yb}^+$.