A compact source of ultracold ytterbium for an optical lattice clock

In this paper, we present the development of a compact source of ultracold Yb atoms for an optical lattice clock. All laser systems that are required for the operation of the compact source are based on diode lasers. We have already implemented the first cooling stage using laser diodes at 399 nm and could realize a magnetooptical trap of
¹⁷⁴
Yb with 3 times 10
⁷
atoms.