Observation and absolute frequency measurements of the 1S0 - 3P0 optical clock transition in ytterbium

Abstract

We report the direct excitation of the highly forbidden (6s^2) 1S0 - (6s6p) 3P0 optical transition in two odd isotopes of ytterbium. As the excitation laser frequency is scanned, absorption is detected by monitoring the depletion from an atomic cloud at ~70 uK in a magneto-optical trap. The measured frequency in 171Yb (F=1/2) is 518,295,836,593.2 +/- 4.4 kHz. The measured frequency in 173Yb (F=5/2) is 518,294,576,850.0 +/- 4.4 kHz. Measurements are made with a femtosecond-laser frequency comb calibrated by the NIST cesium fountain clock and represent nearly a million-fold reduction in uncertainty. The natural linewidth of these J=0 to J=0 transitions is calculated to be ~10 mHz, making them well-suited to support a new generation of optical atomic clocks based on confinement in an optical lattice.