Abstract

Neutral silver atom (Ag) is a good candidate for an optical clock owing to its ultra-narrow (Δυ=0,8Hz) 4d¹⁰5s²S_½- 4d⁹5s^{2 2}D_5/2 two-photon transition at λ_clock=661,2nm [1], However the cooling transition (4d¹⁰5s²S_½-4d⁹5s^{2 2}P_3/2, Γ/2π = 22MHz) lies in the deep UV range (λ=328,162nm) and up to ~300mW UV power is needed to efficiently cool and trap Ag atoms from a thermal beam due to the large saturation intensity (I_sat=87mW/cm²). A diode-pumped solid- state Nd:YLF lasing on the σ-polarized line at 1314nm (⁴F_3/2 - ⁴I_13/2) is a convenient starting laser source to synthesize the UV radiation by fourth harmonic generation at λ = 1312,648nm. To generate the required UV power at least 1W of single-frequency red power at 656,324nm is pre-requisite.

© 2007 IEEE