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arXiv · 1109.0434

Doppler-free frequency modulation spectroscopy of atomic erbium in a hollow cathode discharge cell

Henning Brammer·Jens Ulitzsch·Riad Bourouis·Martin Weitz
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Abstract

The erbium atomic system is a promising candidate for an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms with a non-vanishing orbital angular momentum ($L \neq 0$) of the electronic ground state. In this paper we report on the frequency stabilization of a blue external cavity diode laser system on the 400.91 $nm$ laser cooling transition of atomic erbium. Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy is applied within a hollow cathode discharge tube to the corresponding electronic transition of several of the erbium isotopes. Using the technique of frequency modulation spectroscopy, a zero-crossing error signal is produced to lock the diode laser frequency on the atomic erbium resonance. The latter is taken as a reference laser to which a second main laser system, used for laser cooling of atomic erbium, is frequency stabilized.

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Henning Brammer, Jens Ulitzsch, Riad Bourouis, Martin Weitz. 2011-09-02. Doppler-free frequency modulation spectroscopy of atomic erbium in a hollow cathode discharge cell. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-011-4701-2

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