Laser Scanning of Yb Atomic Beam Fluorescence

The Single Atom Microscope team, led by Kristen and Roy, is taking large steps towards a proper calibration of Yb atom number density in solid Neon. Most recently, the atomic beam fluorescence measurements have incorporated laser frequency scanning. At a stable atomic oven temperature, these measurements are used to determine the Yb atomic beam flux at the measurement location in our vacuum system. We probe the strong 6s^{2 1}S₀->6s6p ¹P₁ transition. For our naturally abundant sample of Yb, we can expect 9 splittings on this transition due to various isotope and hyperfine shifts. The frequency scan width is set in order to cover the full range of splittings and the scan rate and integration time are carefully chosen in order to resolve these splittings. This plot shows our relative fluorescence signal as a function of frequency for our latest measurement at 295°C. Thus far, these measurements have been performed over oven temperatures of ~270-350°C. We would like a complete calibration over the range of allowed oven temperatures, 450°C and below. Our primary focus is to use this information to calibrate the fluorescence yield of Yb atoms in solid Ne. -KP