Microwave spectroscopy and multichannel quantum defect analysis of ytterbium <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>6</mml:mn> <mml:mi>s</mml:mi> <mml:mi>n</mml:mi> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , <m
The complex Rydberg structure of ytterbium atoms is shaped by multiple low-lying ion-core-excited states and strong channel interactions, which presents both opportunities and challenges for quantum information processing and precision metrology. In this work, we extend high-resolution microwave spectroscopy and multichannel quantum defect theory (MQDT) modeling of singly excited $6sn\ensuremath{\ell}$ Rydberg states in $^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ and $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$ to include the $\ensuremath{\ell}=3$ ($f$) and $\ensuremath{\ell}=4$ ($g$) series. Our measurements reveal $p\text{\ensuremath{-}}f$ mixing in odd-parity Rydberg states of $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$, which we incorporate by combined MQDT models for $6snp$ and $6snf$ series. Additionally, we observe that for $\ensuremath{\ell}=4$ the spin-orbit interaction dominates over the exchange interaction, such that the $6sng$ states are more accurately described in a $jj$-coupled basis. We validate our models by comparing the predicted Land\'e $g$ factors and static dipole polarizabilities with experimental measurements, finding excellent agreement. These results provide important input for designing high-fidelity entangling gates with ytterbium atoms.
Authors
- Michael Peper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9745-0133)
- Jeff D. Thompson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8673-052X)
- Vernon W. Hughes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7141-5483)
- Martin Poitrinal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4973-3077)
- Rin Kuroda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7462-4940)
Institutions
- Princeton University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. A/Physical review, A
- Published
- 2025-09-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/mzsv-rckx
- Primary Topic
- Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00