Realization of an ultrastable 578-nm laser for an Yb lattice clock

In this paper, we describe the development of an ultrastable laser source at 578 nm, realized using frequency sum generation. This source will be used to excite the clock transition (1)S(0) - (3)P(0) in an ytterbium optical lattice clock experiment. Two independent ultrastable lasers have been realized, and the laser frequency noise and stability have been characterized.