Absolute Frequency Measurements of the D Lines in ^{9}Be^{+} Using a Single Trapped Ion

Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Sep 1;131(9):093001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.093001.

Abstract

Optical frequencies of the D line transitions in ^{9}Be^{+} were measured with a relative uncertainty of Δν/ν=5×10^{-11}. The results represent the highest accuracy achieved on a broad electric dipole-allowed (E1) transition in a trapped ion experiment to date, enabled in part by detailed consideration of photon recoil and quantum interference. Measurements were made on a single laser-cooled ion stored in a radio frequency Paul trap, using a spectroscopy laser stabilized to an optical frequency comb and referenced to UTC (NIST). The uncertainties in the D_{1} and D_{2} lines have been reduced by a factor of 10 and 30, respectively, compared to previous work. We have extracted the ^{2}P fine structure splitting, Δν_{fs}=197 064.54(7) MHz, and the ^{2}P_{1/2} hyperfine constant, A_{P_{1/2}}=-117.92(4) MHz.