We report on a transportable optical clock, based on laser-cooled strontium atoms trapped in an optical lattice. The experimental apparatus is composed of a compact source of ultra-cold strontium atoms including a compact cooling laser set-up and a t
ransportable ultra-stable laser for interrogating the optical clock transition. The whole setup (excluding electronics) fits within a volume of less than 2 m$^3$. The high degree of operation reliability of both systems allowed the spectroscopy of the clock transition to be performed with 10 Hz resolution. We estimate an uncertainty of the clock of $7times10^{-15}$.
Existing optical lattice clocks demonstrate a high level of performance, but they remain complex experimental devices. In order to address a wider range of applications including those requiring transportable devices, it will be necessary to simplify
the laser systems and reduce the amount of support hardware. Here we demonstrate two significant steps towards this goal: demonstration of clock signals from a Sr lattice clock based solely on semiconductor laser technology, and a method for finding the clock transition (based on a coincidence in atomic wavelengths) that removes the need for extensive frequency metrology hardware. Moreover, the unexpected high contrast in the signal revealed evidence of density dependent collisions in Sr-88 atoms.
Atomic wave packets loaded into a phase-modulated vertical optical-lattice potential exhibit a coherent delocalization dynamics arising from intraband transitions among Wannier-Stark levels. Wannier-Stark intraband transitions are here observed by mo
nitoring the in situ wave-packet extent. By varying the modulation frequency, we find resonances at integer multiples of the Bloch frequency. The resonances show a Fourier-limited width for interrogation times up to 2 s. This can also be used to determine the gravity acceleration with ppm resolution.
