Absolute frequency measurements of the 1S0 → 1P1 transition in ytterbium

The ytterbium atom is widely used in the fields of atomic physics, cavity quantum electrodynamics, quantum information processing, and optical frequency standards. There is however a strong dispersion among the reported values of the S-1(0) -> P-1(1) transition frequency. In this article, we present two independent measurements of the absolute frequency of this transition performed with two different wavemeters using atomic fluorescence spectroscopy. The cancellation of Doppler shifts is obtained by fine tuning the angle between the probe laser and the atomic beam. The resulting Yb-174 isotope transition frequency is estimated to be 751 526 537 +/- 27 MHz. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement