Related papers: An optical clock with neutral atoms confined in a …
The rapid increase in accuracy and stability of optical atomic clocks compared to the caesium atomic clock as primary standard of time and frequency asks for a future re-definition of the second in the International System of Units (SI).…
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…
We report on the design of a segmented linear Paul trap for optical clock applications using trapped ion Coulomb crystals. For an optical clock with an improved short-term stability and a fractional frequency uncertainty of 10^-18, we…
Currently, the most accurate and stable clocks use optical interrogation of either a single ion or an ensemble of neutral atoms confined in an optical lattice. Here, we demonstrate a new optical clock system based on an array of…
Optical atomic clocks represent the state-of-the-art in the frontier of modern measurement science. In this article we provide a detailed review on the development of optical atomic clocks that are based on trapped single ions and many…
We report the first direct excitation of the strongly forbidden 5s2 1S0-5s5p 3P0 transition in 87Sr. Its frequency is 429 228 004 235 (20) kHz. A resonant laser creates a small leak in a magneto-optical trap (MOT): atoms build up to the…
Optical atomic clocks play a crucial role in fundamental physics, relativistic geodesy, and the future redefinition of the SI second. Standard operation relies on cyclic interrogation sequences, which alternate between atomic interrogation…
Optical atomic clocks are our most precise tools to measure time and frequency. They enable precision frequency comparisons between atoms in separate locations to probe the space-time variation of fundamental constants, the properties of…
We report a frequency measurement of the 1S0-3P0 transition of 87Sr atoms in an optical lattice clock. The frequency is determined to be 429 228 004 229 879 (5) Hz with a fractional uncertainty that is comparable to state-of-the-art optical…
We examine single-frequency optical schemes for species-selective trapping of ultracold alkali-metal atoms. Independently addressing the elements of a binary mixture enables the creation of an optical lattice for one atomic species with…
Optical lattice clocks have the potential for extremely high frequency stability owing to the simultaneous interrogation of many atoms, but this precision may come at the cost of systematic inaccuracy due to atomic interactions.…
We present a design for an atom chip trap that uses the time-orbiting potential technique. The design offers several advantages compared to other chip-trap methods. It uses a simple crossed-wire pattern on the chip, along with a rotating…
A major obstacle for optical clocks is the frequency shift due to black body radiation. We discuss how one can tackle this problem in an optical lattice clock; in our case 87-Sr: firstly, by a measurement of the dc Stark shift of the clock…
We consider the frequency shift in optical lattice clocks which arises from the coupling of the electronic motion to the atomic motion within the lattice. For the simplest of 3-D lattice geometries this coupling is shown to only affect…
Ultracold atom-traps on a chip enhances the practical application of atom traps in quantum information processing, sensing, and metrology. Plasmon mediated near-field optical potentials are promising for trapping atoms. The combination of…
Thulium atoms are trapped in a magneto-optical trap using a strong transition at 410 nm with a small branching ratio. We trap up to $7\times10^{4}$ atoms at a temperature of 0.8(2) mK after deceleration in a 40 cm long Zeeman slower.…
Optical molecular clocks promise unparalleled sensitivity to the temporal variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio and insight into possible new physics beyond the Standard Model. We propose to realize a molecular clock with bosonic…
With the advent of optical clocks featuring fractional frequency uncertainties on the order of $10^{-17}$ and below, new applications such as chronometric levelling with few-cm height resolution emerge. We are developing a transportable…
We describe basic periodic trapping configurations for ultracold atoms above surfaces. The approach is based on a simple wire grid and can be scaled to provide large arrays of periodically arranged magnetic or magneto-optical traps. The…
We demonstrate a compact magneto-optical trap (MOT) of alkaline-earth atoms using a nanofabricated diffraction grating chip. A single input laser beam, resonant with the broad $^1$S$_0\,\rightarrow \,^1$P$_1$ transition of strontium, forms…