Clock spectroscopy of interacting bosons in deep optical lattices

Abstract

We report on high-resolution optical spectroscopy of interacting bosonic ^174 Yb atoms in deep optical lattices with negligible tunneling. We prepare Mott insulator phases with singly- and doubly-occupied isolated sites and probe the atoms using an ultra-narrow ‘clock’ transition. Atoms in singly-occupied sites undergo long-lived Rabi oscillations. Atoms in doubly-occupied sites are strongly affected by interatomic interactions, and we measure their inelastic decay rates and energy shifts. We deduce from these measurements all relevant collisional parameters involving both clock states, in particular the intra- and inter-state scattering lengths.

Keywords

• ultracold atoms
• optical lattices
• ultracold collisions
• clock transition