Precision spectroscopy technique for dipole allowed transitions in laser cooled ions

Abstract: In this paper we present a technique for the precise measurement of electric dipole allowed transitions in trapped ions. By applying a probe and a cooling laser in quick succession, the full transition can be probed without causing distortion from heating the ion. In addition, two probes can be utilized to measure a dispersion-like signal, which is well suited to stabilizing the laser to the transition. We have fully characterized the parameters for the measurement and find that it is possible to measure the transition frequency to better than 100kHz with an interrogation time of 30s. The long-term stability of the spectroscopy signal is determined by employing two independent ion trap systems. The first ion trap is used to stabilize the spectroscopy laser. The second ion trap is then employed to measure the stability by continuously probing the transition at two frequencies. From the Allan variance a frequency instability of better than 10$^{-10}$ is obtained for an interrogation time of 1000s.