Ultracold atomic gases of strontium: Production and narrow-line spectroscopy

The thesis describes the design and construction of a new versatile strontium quantum gas machine with envisioned quantum gas microscope capability. The relevant theory for the operation of a quantum gas experiment in general is presented, as well as the peculiarities of working with strontium, and the calculation of a single-site single-atom detection scheme for strontium in an optical lattice. In the context of this machine, the thesis explains the technicalities of vacuum and laser system construction, outlines the experimental sequence for cooling atoms from around 600 ºC to sub-microkelvin temperatures, and shows the theory and examples of ultracold cloud analysis by absorption imaging. Finally, the thesis presents the method and the results of a spectroscopic measurement of the 1S0 – 3P2 transition frequency in 87Sr, which is an ultranarrow and magnetically sensitive transition with interesting potential applications in quantum simulation with strontium