A 674 nm external cavity diode laser for a ⁸⁸Sr⁺ ion trap

Abstract

Atomic ion traps are a promising candidate for scalable quantum information processing. In this thesis, a 674 nm extended cavity diode laser is built to address an optical quantum bit in ⁸⁸Sr⁺ with the goal of testing such traps. To find this transition, a depletion experiment is performed in which the 674 nm transition depopulates the principal 422 nm transition, causing a dip in the ion fluorescence signal. Our preliminary results suggest that this depletion signal has been observed. .