Long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}$5d6s configuration of Yb$^+$
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| author | Ackerman, Z. E. D. Quevedo, A. Cadarso Maran, Ilango Gallagher, L. P. H. Spreeuw, R. J. C. Berengut, J. C. Gerritsma, R. |
| author_facet | Ackerman, Z. E. D. Quevedo, A. Cadarso Maran, Ilango Gallagher, L. P. H. Spreeuw, R. J. C. Berengut, J. C. Gerritsma, R. |
| contents | We study the occurrence of long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}$5d6s electron configuration of Yb$^+$. By optical pumping of a single trapped ion on the $^2F^\text{o}_{7/2}\rightarrow (7/2,0)_{7/2}$ transition at 377.5 nm, we prepare a wide range of metastable electronic states. We use a co-trapped control ion to sympathetically cool the spectroscopy ion, allowing us to accurately time its subsequent decay. We record a strong decay signal corresponding to a lifetime of 0.92(8) s, a weaker decay signal with lifetime 9.8(+2.9, -2.0) s, and find evidence for a much longer lifetime, $>$ 30 s. We identify the metastable states with these lifetimes qualitatively, and corroborate our results with atomic structure calculations that support the observed lifetimes and decay paths. These long-lived states provide new opportunities in qubit and qudit state detection and optical clocks. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_04250 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}$5d6s configuration of Yb$^+$ Ackerman, Z. E. D. Quevedo, A. Cadarso Maran, Ilango Gallagher, L. P. H. Spreeuw, R. J. C. Berengut, J. C. Gerritsma, R. Atomic Physics Quantum Physics We study the occurrence of long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}$5d6s electron configuration of Yb$^+$. By optical pumping of a single trapped ion on the $^2F^\text{o}_{7/2}\rightarrow (7/2,0)_{7/2}$ transition at 377.5 nm, we prepare a wide range of metastable electronic states. We use a co-trapped control ion to sympathetically cool the spectroscopy ion, allowing us to accurately time its subsequent decay. We record a strong decay signal corresponding to a lifetime of 0.92(8) s, a weaker decay signal with lifetime 9.8(+2.9, -2.0) s, and find evidence for a much longer lifetime, $>$ 30 s. We identify the metastable states with these lifetimes qualitatively, and corroborate our results with atomic structure calculations that support the observed lifetimes and decay paths. These long-lived states provide new opportunities in qubit and qudit state detection and optical clocks. |
| title | Long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}$5d6s configuration of Yb$^+$ |
| topic | Atomic Physics Quantum Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.04250 |