title: Dual-axis vapor cell for simultaneous laser frequency stabilization on disparate optical transitions.
abstract: We have developed a dual-axis ytterbium (Yb) vapor cell and used it to simultaneously address the two laser cooling transitions in Yb at wavelengths 399 nm and 556 nm, featuring the disparate linewidths of 2π × 29 MHz and 2π × 182 KHz, respectively. By utilizing different optical paths for the two wavelengths, we simultaneously obtain comparable optical densities suitable for saturated absorption spectroscopy for both the transitions and keep both the lasers frequency stabilized over several hours. We demonstrate that by appropriate control of the cell temperature profile, two atomic transitions differing in relative strength across a large range of over three orders of magnitude can be simultaneously addressed, making the device adaptable to a variety of spectroscopic needs. We also show that our observations can be understood with a simple theoretical model of the Yb vapor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Washington, P.O. Box 351560, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA.
authors.forename: Anupriya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jayakumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Washington, P.O. Box 351560, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Plotkin-Swing
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Washington, P.O. Box 351560, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA.
authors.forename: Alan O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Jamison
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Washington, P.O. Box 351560, Seattle, Washington 98195-1560, USA.
authors.forename: Subhadeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta