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A multi-ion optical clock with $\mathbf{5 \times 10^{-19}}$ uncertainty

Atomic Physics 2026-03-25 v1 Quantum Physics

Abstract

Today's most accurate clocks are based on laser spectroscopy of electronic transitions in single trapped ions and feature fractional frequency uncertainties below 1×10181\times10^{-18}. Scaling these systems to multiple, simultaneously interrogated ions reduces measurement times, driving recent advances in multi-ion clocks. However, maintaining state-of-the-art systematic uncertainties while increasing the number of ions remains a central challenge. Here, we report on a multi-ion optical atomic clock with a fractional frequency uncertainty of 5.3×10195.3\times10^{-19} and up to 10 \Sr ions. Ion-resolved state detection enables minimization of position-dependent shifts, with residual effects suppressed below the 102010^{-20}-level. Clock operation with eight to ten ions reduces the measurement time by a factor of 4.8 compared to single-ion operation. A comparison with an established \Yb single-ion clock yields an unperturbed frequency ratio of 0.6926711632159660405(20)0.6926711632159660405(20), with a statistical uncertainty of 0.9×10180.9\times10^{-18} and a combined uncertainty of 2.9×10182.9\times 10^{-18}. These results demonstrate robust multi-ion clock operation with reduced averaging time and state-of-the-art accuracy.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.23446,
  title  = {A multi-ion optical clock with $\mathbf{5 \times 10^{-19}}$ uncertainty},
  author = {Melina Filzinger and Martin R. Steinel and Jian Jiang and Daniel Bennett and Tanja E. Mehlstäubler and Ekkehard Peik and Nils Huntemann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.23446},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

11 pages, 4 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:35:48.968Z