ترغب بنشر مسار تعليمي؟ اضغط هنا

An atomic clock with $10^{-18}$ instability

82   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Andrew Ludlow
 تاريخ النشر 2013
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English




اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث

Atomic clocks have been transformational in science and technology, leading to innovations such as global positioning, advanced communications, and tests of fundamental constant variation. Next-generation optical atomic clocks can extend the capability of these timekeepers, where researchers have long aspired toward measurement precision at 1 part in $bm{10^{18}}$. This milestone will enable a second revolution of new timing applications such as relativistic geodesy, enhanced Earth- and space-based navigation and telescopy, and new tests on physics beyond the Standard Model. Here, we describe the development and operation of two optical lattice clocks, both utilizing spin-polarized, ultracold atomic ytterbium. A measurement comparing these systems demonstrates an unprecedented atomic clock instability of $bm{1.6times 10^{-18}}$ after only $bm{7}$ hours of averaging.

قيم البحث

اقرأ أيضاً

The Stark shift due to blackbody radiation (BBR) is the key factor limiting the performance of many atomic frequency standards, with the BBR environment inside the clock apparatus being difficult to characterize at a high level of precision. Here we demonstrate an in-vacuum radiation shield that furnishes a uniform, well-characterized BBR environment for the atoms in an ytterbium optical lattice clock. Operated at room temperature, this shield enables specification of the BBR environment to a corresponding fractional clock uncertainty contribution of $5.5 times 10^{-19}$. Combined with uncertainty in the atomic response, the total uncertainty of the BBR Stark shift is now $1times10^{-18}$. Further operation of the shield at elevated temperatures enables a direct measure of the BBR shift temperature dependence and demonstrates consistency between our evaluated BBR environment and the expected atomic response.
A thermal atomic ensemble-based laser source with superior frequency stability is proposed that relies on the accumulated contributions from an abundance of nonzero-transverse-velocity atomic ensembles. Compared with the traditional case in which onl y atoms with near-zero transverse velocities are utilized, the amplitude of the optical Ramsey fringes for a thermal calcium beam can be dramatically enhanced by three orders of magnitude or more, thus, the signal-to-noise ratio can be improved 33-fold. Based on the recent results of atomic interferometry-based laser stabilization, a quantum projection noise-limited frequency instability less than 2E-17/tau^0.5 is feasible. Such an ultrastable laser has promising applications in diverse areas, including metrology and astronomy.
The passage of time is tracked by counting oscillations of a frequency reference, such as Earths revolutions or swings of a pendulum. By referencing atomic transitions, frequency (and thus time) can be measured more precisely than any other physical quantity, with the current generation of optical atomic clocks reporting fractional performance below the $10^{-17}$ level. However, the theory of relativity prescribes that the passage of time is not absolute, but impacted by an observers reference frame. Consequently, clock measurements exhibit sensitivity to relative velocity, acceleration and gravity potential. Here we demonstrate optical clock measurements surpassing the present-day ability to account for the gravitational distortion of space-time across the surface of Earth. In two independent ytterbium optical lattice clocks, we demonstrate unprecedented levels in three fundamental benchmarks of clock performance. In units of the clock frequency, we report systematic uncertainty of $1.4 times 10^{-18}$, measurement instability of $3.2 times 10^{-19}$ and reproducibility characterised by ten blinded frequency comparisons, yielding a frequency difference of $[-7 pm (5)_{stat} pm (8)_{sys}] times 10^{-19}$. While differential sensitivity to gravity could degrade the performance of these optical clocks as terrestrial standards of time, this same sensitivity can be used as an exquisite probe of geopotential. Near the surface of Earth, clock comparisons at the $1 times 10^{-18}$ level provide 1 cm resolution along gravity, outperforming state-of-the-art geodetic techniques. These optical clocks can further be used to explore geophysical phenomena, detect gravitational waves, test general relativity and search for dark matter.
Quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement is a remarkable tool for the manipulation of quantum systems. It allows specific information to be extracted while still preserving fragile quantum observables of the system. Here we apply cavity-based QND mea surement to an optical lattice clock---a type of atomic clock with unrivalled frequency precision---preserving the quantum coherence of the atoms after readout with 80% fidelity. We apply this technique to stabilise the phase of an ultrastable laser to a coherent atomic state via a series of repeated QND measurements. We exploit the improved phase-coherence of the ultrastable laser to interrogate a separate optical lattice clock, using a Ramsey spectroscopy time extended from 300~ms to 2~s. With this technique we maintain 95% contrast and observe a seven-fold increase in the clocks emph{Q} factor to $1.7times10^{15}$.
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 individually trapped neutral atoms with single-atom readout, merging many of the benefits of ion and lattice clocks as well as creating a bridge to recently developed techniques in quantum simulation and computing with neutral atoms. We evaluate single-site resolved frequency shifts and short-term stability via self-comparison. Atom-by-atom feedback control enables direct experimental estimation of laser noise contributions. Results agree well with an ab initio Monte Carlo simulation that incorporates finite temperature, projective read-out, laser noise, and feedback dynamics. Our approach, based on a tweezer array, also suppresses interaction shifts while retaining a short dead time, all in a comparatively simple experimental setup suited for transportable operation. These results establish the foundations for a third optical clock platform and provide a novel starting point for entanglement-enhanced metrology, quantum clock networks, and applications in quantum computing and communication with individual neutral atoms that require optical clock state control.
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
mircosoft-partner

هل ترغب بارسال اشعارات عن اخر التحديثات في شمرا-اكاديميا