Single barium ion spectroscopy: light shifts, hyperfine structure, and progress on an optical frequency standard and atomic parity violation

Abstract

Single trapped ions are ideal systems in which to test atomic physics at high precision: they are effectively isolated atoms held at rest and largely free from perturbing interactions. This thesis describes several projects developed to study the structure of singly-ionized barium and more fundamental physics. First, we describe a spin-dependent "electron-shelving" scheme that allows us to perform single ion electron spin resonance experiments in both the ground 6S_{1/2} and metastable 5D_{3/2} states at precision levels of 10^{-5}. We employ this technique to measure the ratio of off-resonant light shifts (or ac-Stark effect) in these states to a precision of 10^{-3} at two different wavelengths. These results constitute a new high precision test of heavy-atom atomic theory. Such experimental tests in Ba+ are in high demand since knowledge of key dipole matrix elements is currently limited to about 5%. Ba+ has recently been the subject of theoretical interest towards a test of atomic parity violation for which knowledge of dipole matrix elements is an important prerequisite. We summarize this parity violation experimental concept and describe new ideas. (continued...)

316 pages, PhD thesis

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• Ion trap transducers for quantum electromechanical oscillators
• High precision measurement of the static dipole polarizability of cesium
• Improved frequency measurement of a one-dimensional optical lattice clock with a spin-polarized fermionic ${}^{87}$Sr isotope
• Experimental investigation of planar ion traps
• Observation and absolute frequency measurements of the 1S0 - 3P0 optical clock transition in ytterbium
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• Calculations of energy levels and lifetimes of low-lying states of barium and radium
• Thermometry of Fermionic Atoms in an Optical Lattice
• Nuclear magnetization distribution and hyperfine splitting in Bi${}^{82+}$ ion
• Quantum feedback cooling of a single trapped ion in front of a mirror
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