Direct frequency-comb spectroscopy of a dipole-forbidden clock transition in trapped Ca-40(+) ions

We demonstrate direct frequency-comb (FC) spectroscopy of the dipole-forbidden 4s(2)S(1/2)-3d(2)D(5/2) transition in trapped Ca-40(+) ions using an unamplified FC laser. The excitation is detected with nearly 100% efficiency using a shelving scheme in combination with single-ion imaging. The method demonstrated here has the potential to reach hertz-level accuracy, if a hertz-level linewidth FC is used in combination with confinement in the Lamb-Dicke regime. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America