Laser Saturated Absorption Spectroscopy of Ytterbium Atoms in a Hollow Cathode Lamp

Ion trapping research has led the charge in expanding the field of quantum states, quantum computing, and mass spectroscopy. In this experiment, we studied the spectrum of neutral ytter- bium (Yb) atoms in a hollow cathode lamp (HCL) to measure the transition that is necessary for photoionization loading of Yb atoms into an ion trap quantum computer. Employing saturated absorption spectroscopy, we eliminated Doppler-broadening effects by aligning two counterpropa- gating, overlapping laser beams from the same source at the same frequency, through a low-density vapor of atoms in the HCL. In our research, we explored multiple hyperfine isotope lines in the 398.8-nm line in Yb, corresponding to 1S0 → 1P1, using this Doppler-free saturated absorption technique.