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Nuclear Spin Quenching of the S21/2→F27/2 Electric Octupole Transition in Yb+173

Jialiang Yu1,*, Anand Prakash2, Clara Zyskind1, Ikbal Ahamed Biswas1, Rattakorn Kaewuam3, Piyaphat Phoonthong3, and Tanja E. Mehlstäubler1,2,†

  • *Contact author: jialiang.yu@ptb.de
  • †Contact author: tanja.mehlstaeubler@ptb.de
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 023002 – Published 14 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/fx1b-5666

Abstract

We report the coherent excitation of the highly forbidden S21/2→F27/2 clock transition in the odd isotope Yb+173 with nuclear spin I=5/2, and reveal the hyperfine-state-dependent, nuclear-spin–induced quenching of this transition. The inferred lifetime of the Fe=4 hyperfine state is one order of magnitude shorter than the unperturbed F27/2 clock state of Yb+171. This reduced lifetime lowers the required optical power for coherent excitation of the clock transition, thereby reducing the ac Stark shift caused by the clock laser. Using a three-ion Coulomb crystal, we experimentally demonstrate an approximately twentyfold suppression of the ac Stark shift, a critical improvement for the scalability of future multi-ion Yb+ clocks. Furthermore, we report the |S1/22,Fg=3⟩→|F7/22,Fe=6⟩ unquenched reference transition frequency as 642.11917656354(43) THz, along with the measured hyperfine splitting and calculated quadratic Zeeman sensitivities of the F27/2 clock state. Our results pave the way toward multi-ion optical clocks and quantum computers based on Yb+173.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 023002– Published 14 January, 2026
  • Received 16 April 2025
  • Revised 15 October 2025
  • Accepted 15 December 2025
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