Clock-transition spectrum of ¹⁷¹Yb atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice

An optical atomic clock with ¹⁷¹Yb atoms is devised and tested. By using a two-stage Doppler cooling technique, the ¹⁷¹Yb atoms are cooled down to a temperature of 6±3 μK, which is close to the Doppler limit. Then, the cold ¹⁷¹Yb atoms are loaded into a one-dimensional optical lattice with a wavelength of 759 nm in the Lamb-Dicke regime. Furthermore, these cold ¹⁷¹Yb atoms are excited from the ground-state ¹S₀ to the excited-state ³P₀ by a clock laser with a wavelength of 578 nm. Finally, the ¹S₀-³P₀ clock-transition spectrum of these ¹⁷¹Yb atoms is obtained by measuring the dependence of the population of the ground-state ¹S₀ upon the clock-laser detuning.