Nuclear Spin Quenching of the ^S2_1/2→F_27/2 Electric Octupole Transition in Yb⁺¹⁷³

authored by

Jialiang Yu, Anand Prakash, Clara Zyskind, Ikbal Ahamed Biswas, Rattakorn Kaewuam, Piyaphat Phoonthong, Tanja E. Mehlstäubler

Abstract

We report the coherent excitation of the highly forbidden ^S21/₂→F_27/2 clock transition in the odd isotope Yb⁺¹⁷³ with nuclear spin I=5/2, and reveal the hyperfine-state-dependent, nuclear-spin–induced quenching of this transition. The inferred lifetime of the F_e=4 hyperfine state is one order of magnitude shorter than the unperturbed F_27/2 clock state of Yb⁺¹⁷¹. This reduced lifetime lowers the required optical power for coherent excitation of the clock transition, thereby reducing the ac Stark shift caused by the clock laser. Using a three-ion Coulomb crystal, we experimentally demonstrate an approximately twentyfold suppression of the ac Stark shift, a critical improvement for the scalability of future multi-ion Yb+ clocks. Furthermore, we report the |S_1/22,Fg=₃⟩→|F_7/22,F_e=6⟩ unquenched reference transition frequency as 642.11917656354(43) THz, along with the measured hyperfine splitting and calculated quadratic Zeeman sensitivities of the F_27/2 clock state. Our results pave the way toward multi-ion optical clocks and quantum computers based on Yb⁺¹⁷³.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Quantum Optics

External Organisation(s)

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt PTB
National Institute of Metrology (Thailand)

Type

Article

Journal

Physical review letters

Volume

136

ISSN

0031-9007

Publication date

16.01.2026

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Physics and Astronomy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1103/fx1b-5666 (Access: Open)