Precision determination of the 5d^{2}D_{3/2} state lifetime of single ^{174}Yb^{+} ion

Abstract

We present a method to precisely determine the ^{2}D_{3/2} state lifetime of a single trapped ^{174}Yb^{+} ion. This method is based on the detection of photons emitted from excited states, where a highly synchronized measurement sequence for laser control and an intensity-alternating sequence for atomic excitation and photon counting are used to minimize systematic errors. This method is easy to implement and is immune to fluctuations of magnetic field, laser intensity, and frequency detuning. Combined with the real-time approach of background photon correction, the radiative lifetime of the ^{2}D_{3/2} state is determined to be 54.83±0.18 ms, which represents an order of magnitude improvement in measurement precision. The accurately determined lifetime sets a benchmark for many-body atomic theories and is particularly useful to determine the coherence time limit of the optical clock.