Related papers: Cold-atom clock based on a diffractive optic
Mechanical clocks consist of a pendulum and a clockwork that translates the pendulum period to displayed time. The most advanced clocks utilize optical transitions in atoms in place of the pendulum and an optical frequency comb generated by…
Optical clocks require an ultra-stable laser to probe and precisely measure the frequency of the narrow-linewidth clock transition. We introduce a portable ultraviolet (UV) laser system for use in an aluminum quantum logic clock,…
Atomic clocks provide a reproducible basis for our understanding of time and frequency. Recent demonstrations of compact optical clocks, employing thermal atomic beams, have achieved short-term fractional frequency instabilities in the…
Laser cooled atoms are central to modern precision measurements. They are also increasingly important as an enabling technology for experimental cavity quantum electrodynamics, quantum information processing and matter wave interferometry.…
Optical atomic clocks using highly-charged ions hold an intriguing promise of metrology at the 19th significant figure. Here we study transitions within the $4f^{12}$ ground-state electronic configuration of highly charged ions. We consider…
The medium-long term frequency stability of the integrating sphere cold atom clock was improved.During the clock operation, Rb atoms were cooled and manipulated using cooling light diffusely reflected by the inner surface of a microwave…
We present a Ramsey-type atom interferometer operating with an optically trapped sample of 10^6 Bose-condensed Rb-87 atoms. The optical trap allows us to couple the |F =1, mF =0>\rightarrow |F =2, mF =0> clock states using a single photon…
Optical atomic clocks have demonstrated revolutionary advances in precision timekeeping, but their applicability to the real world is critically dependent on whether such clocks can operate outside a laboratory setting. The challenge to…
The uncertainty of the ac Stark shift due to thermal radiation represents a major contribution to the systematic uncertainty budget of state-of-the-art optical atomic clocks. In the case of optical clocks based on trapped ions, the thermal…
In this paper, we present a technique for magneto-optical cooling and trapping of neutral atoms using a single laser. The alternating-frequency magneto-optical trap (AF-MOT) uses an agile light source that sequentially switches between…
We experimentally demonstrate optical spectroscopy of magnetically trapped atoms on an atom chip. High resolution optical spectra of individual trapped clouds are recorded within a few hundred milliseconds. Detection sensitivities close to…
We study the trap depth requirement for the realization of an optical clock using atoms confined in a lattice. We show that site-to-site tunnelling leads to a residual sensitivity to the atom dynamics hence requiring large depths (50 to…
A global network of optical atomic clocks will enable unprecedented measurement precision in fields including tests of fundamental physics, dark matter searches, geodesy, and navigation. Free-space laser links through the turbulent…
We have measured the trapping lifetime of magnetically trapped atoms in a cryogenic atom-chip experiment. An ultracold atomic cloud is kept at a fixed distance from a thin gold layer deposited on top of a superconducting trapping wire. The…
We have constructed an optical clock with a fractional frequency inaccuracy of 8.6e-18, based on quantum logic spectroscopy of an Al+ ion. A simultaneously trapped Mg+ ion serves to sympathetically laser-cool the Al+ ion and detect its…
$^{133}$Cs, which is the only stable cesium (Cs) isotope, is one of the most investigated elements in atomic spectroscopy and was used to realize the atomic clock in 1955. Among all atomic clocks, the cesium atomic clock has a special…
We present the design of a compact optical clock based on the $^2S_{1/2} \rightarrow ^2D_{3/2}$ 435.5 nm transition in $^{171}$Yb$^+$. The ion trap will be based on a micro-fabricated circuit, with surface electrodes generating a trapping…
Optical lattice clocks with uncertainty and instability in the $10^{-17}$-range and below have so far been demonstrated exclusively using fermions. Here, we demonstrate a bosonic optical lattice clock with $3\times 10^{-18}$ instability and…
Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) are widely used for laser cooling of atoms. We have developed a high-flux compact cold-atom source based on a pyramid MOT with a unique adjustable aperture that is highly suitable for portable quantum technology…
This letter presents the principles and techniques of active optical clock, a special laser combining the laser physics of one-atom laser, bad-cavity gas laser, super-cavity stabilized laser and optical atomic clock. As an example, a…