Ytterbium optical lattice clock at INRIM

• Published in: 2015 Joint Conference of the IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium & the European Frequency and Time Forum pp. 300 - 303
• Main Authors: Pizzocaro, Marco, Bregolin, Filippo, Milani, Gianmaria, Rauf, Benjamin, Thoumany, Pierre, Costanzo, Giovanni Antonio, Levi, Filippo, Calonico, Davide
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-04-2015
• Subjects: Atomic beams; Atomic clocks; Atomic measurements; Laser excitation; Lattices; Pump lasers
• ISSN: 2327-1914
• DOI: 10.1109/FCS.2015.7138846

We present an optical lattice clock based on ytterbium 171 Yb atoms developed in the laboratories of INRIM. In the experiment, we cool and trap ytterbium atoms in a two stage magneto-optical trap (MOT) (at 399nm and 556nm for the first and second stage, respectively). Atoms are then transferred in a horizontal, one-dimensional optical lattice at the magic wavelength (759 nm). Here the clock transition at 578nm is probed by a laser stabilized on an ultra-stable cavity. We describe the generation of all the laser sources, the physic package and the operation of the clock. Lasers at 399 nm, 556nm and 578nm are obtained, with different techniques, using non-linear crystals starting from infrared sources. The clock laser is stabilized using a high finesse notched ULE cavity. The lattice is made with a titanium-sapphire laser. The aluminum vacuum chamber is designed for wide optical access and its temperature is measured by 8 thermistors for blackbody shift evaluation. Our system allows for fast loading of the lattice with 1 × 10 4 atoms trapped in the lattice in 250 ms. We obtained preliminary spectroscopy results and we locked the clock laser to the atomic line. Future perspectives are discussed.