Turquoise magic wavelength of the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mn>87</mml:mn> </mml:msup> <mml:mi>Sr</mml:mi> </mml:math> clock transition
Optical lattice clocks of fermionic strontium offer a versatile platform for probing fundamental physics and developing quantum technologies. The bivalent electronic structure of strontium gives rise to a doubly forbidden atomic transition that is accessible due to hyperfine mixing in fermionic strontium-87, thus resulting in a submillihertz natural linewidth. Currently, the most accurate optical lattice clocks operate on this narrow transition by tightly trapping strontium-87 atoms in a optical lattice at 813 nm. Magic wavelengths occur where the Stark shifts of both the ground and excited states are equal, thus eliminating any position- and intensity-dependent broadening of the corresponding transition. Theoretical calculations of the electronic structure of strontium-87 have also predicted another magic wavelength of the clock transition at 497.01(57) nm. In this work, we experimentally measure the magic wavelength to be 497.4364(4) nm. Compared to the 813-nm magic wavelength, 497 nm is closer to the strong 461-nm dipolar transition of strontium, resulting in an order-of-magnitude increase in atomic polarizability and deeper traps with less optical power. The proximity to the 461-nm transition also leads to an enhanced sensitivity of 334(10) Hz/(nm <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:msub> <a:mi>E</a:mi> <a:mi>R</a:mi> </a:msub> </a:math> ) at the magic wavelength.
Authors
- E.C. Trapp
- Anonymous
- M.S. Safronova
- R.J. Sedlik
- J.T. Barreiro
Institutions
- Harvard University Press (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- University of Delaware (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Applied
- Published
- 2025-12-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/rp9f-664g
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Frequency and Time Standards
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00