Observation And Absolute Frequency Measurements Of The S-1(0)-P-3(0) Optical Clock Transition In Neutral Ytterbium

We report the direct excitation of the highly forbidden (6s(2))S-1(0)<->(6s6p)P-3(0) optical transition in two odd isotopes of neutral ytterbium. As the excitation laser frequency is scanned, absorption is detected by monitoring the depletion from an atomic cloud at similar to 70 mu K in a magneto-optical trap. The measured frequency in Y...更多