Cascaded two-photon spectroscopy of Yb atoms with a transportable effusive atomic beam apparatus

Abstract

We present a transportable effusive atomic beam apparatus for cascaded two-photon spectroscopy of the dipole-forbidden transition (6s(2) S-1(0) <-> 6s7s S-1(0)) of Yb atoms. An ohmic-heating effusive oven is designed to have a reservoir volume of 1.6 cm(3) and a high degree of atomic beam collimation angle of 30 mrad. The new atomic beam apparatus allows us to detect the spontaneously cascaded two-photons from the 6s7s(1)S(0) state via the intercombination 6s6p(3)P(1) state with a high signal-to-noise ratio even at the temperature of 340 degrees C. This is made possible in our apparatus because of the enhanced atomic beam flux and superior detection solid angle. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4790849]