Atomic clocks with suppressed blackbody radiation shift

We develop a concept of atomic clocks where the blackbody radiation shift and its fluctuations can be suppressed by 1-3 orders of magnitude independent of the environmental temperature. The suppression is based on the fact that in a system with two accessible clock transitions (with frequencies ν1 and ν2) which are exposed to the same thermal environment, there exists a "synthetic" frequency ν(syn) ∝ (ν1 - ε12ν2) largely immune to the blackbody radiation shift. For example, in the case of 171Yb+ it is possible to create a synthetic-frequency-based clock in which the fractional blackbody radiation shift can be suppressed to the level of 10(-18) in a broad interval near room temperature (300±15 K). We also propose a realization of our method with the use of an optical frequency comb generator stabilized to both frequencies ν1 and ν2, where the frequency ν(syn) is generated as one of the components of the comb spectrum.     

Doppler-free spectroscopy of the 1S0-3P0 optical clock transition in laser-cooled fermionic isotopes of neutral mercury

We report direct laser spectroscopy of the 1S0-3P0 transition at 265.6 nm in fermionic isotopes of neutral mercury in a magneto-optical trap. Measurements of the frequency against the LNE-SYRTE primary reference using an optical frequency comb yield 1 128 575 290 808.4+/-5.6 kHz in 199Hg and 1 128 569 561 139.6+/-5.3 kHz in 201Hg. The uncertainty, allowed by the observation of the Doppler-free recoil doublet, is 4 orders of magnitude lower than previous indirect determinations. Mercury is a promising candidate for future optical lattice clocks due to its low sensitivity to blackbody radiation.     

可搬运锶光晶格钟系统不确定度的评估

可搬运光学原子钟在科学研究和工程应用中具有重要意义.本文测量了可搬运87Sr光晶格钟系统的主要频移,包括黑体辐射频移、碰撞频移、晶格光交流斯塔克频移、二阶塞曼频移等.首先实验上测量了磁光阱腔体表面的温度分布,分析了不同热源对原子团的影响,得到黑体辐射总的相对频移修正量为50.4×10^-16.相对不确定度为5.1×10^-17.然后利用分时自比对方法,评估了碰撞频移、晶格光交流斯塔克频移和二阶塞曼频移.结果表明,由黑体辐射引起的频移量最大,晶格光交流斯塔克频移的不确定度最大,系统总的相对频移修正量为58.8×10^-16,总不确定度为2.3×10^-16.该工作为可搬运87Sr光晶格钟之后的性能提升和应用提供了条件.     

Direct excitation of the forbidden clock transition in neutral 174Yb atoms confined to an optical lattice

We report direct single-laser excitation of the strictly forbidden (6s2)1S0 <--> (6s6p)3P0 clock transition in 174Yb atoms confined to a 1D optical lattice. A small (approximately 1.2 mT) static magnetic field was used to induce a nonzero electric dipole transition probability between the clock states at 578.42 nm. Narrow resonance linewidths of 20 Hz (FWHM) with high contrast were observed, demonstrating a resonance quality factor of 2.6 x 10(13). The previously unknown ac Stark shift-canceling (magic) wavelength was determined to be 759.35 +/- 0.02 nm. This method for using the metrologically superior even isotope can be easily implemented in current Yb and Sr lattice clocks and can create new clock possibilities in other alkaline-earth-like atoms such as Mg and Ca.     

A simplified optical lattice clock

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 ⁸⁸Sr atoms.     

锶原子光晶格钟黑体辐射频移评估

在中性原子光晶格钟的系统不确定度评估中,通常黑体辐射引起的频移是最大的一项.黑体辐射频移主要受周围环境温度的影响.针对国家授时中心的锶原子光晶格钟实验系统,通过理论分析、腔体表面温度的测量和软件模拟相结合的方法,评估了锶原子光晶格钟黑体辐射频移的修正量和不确定度.其中主要分析了锶原子炉、蓝宝石加热窗口、透过窗口片进入到真空腔体内的室温以及Zeeman减速装置对原子团处的热辐射引起的黑体辐射频移.在真空腔体外表面设置了5个测温点,利用校准过的铂电阻温度传感器监测真空腔体外表面的温度变化,用SolidWorks绘图软件建立腔体模型,通过有限元分析软件模拟出在真空腔体温度变化0.72 K时,原子团所处位置温度的波动为0.34 K.最终得到黑体辐射频移总的修正量为-2.13(1) Hz,不确定度为2.4×10~(-17).     

冷原子气体的时频测量——光晶格原子钟

基于冷原子气体的时频测量在近20年里快速发展,引起了人们的广泛关注,其典型代表是基于大量中性原子的光晶格原子钟。利用超稳钟激光同时探测囚禁在光晶格里成千上万个冷原子的钟跃迁信号,光晶格原子钟已实现10^-18量级的频率准确度和10^-17量级的秒级稳定度,大幅度提高了时频测量的精度。文章概述了光晶格原子钟的发展历史、工作原理、性能评估及应用前景。     

冷原子气体的时频测量——光晶格原子钟

基于冷原子气体的时频测量在近20年里快速发展,引起了人们的广泛关注,其典型代表是基于大量中性原子的光晶格原子钟。利用超稳钟激光同时探测囚禁在光晶格里成千上万个冷原子的钟跃迁信号,光晶格原子钟已实现10^-18量级的频率准确度和10^-17量级的秒级稳定度,大幅度提高了时频测量的精度。文章概述了光晶格原子钟的发展历史、工作原理、性能评估及应用前景。     

利用传输腔技术实现镱原子光钟光晶格场的频率稳定

为了获得高稳定度和高精确度的原子光晶格钟,光晶格场的频率必须得到锁定,线宽必须控制到特定水平用来消除交流斯塔克频移.本文提出利用传输腔技术来实现对镱原子光钟的光晶格场的频率锁定和抑制频率长期漂移的锁定方案.首先,将一个殷钢材料的传输腔锁定在基于调制转移谱技术锁定的780 nm激光场上,再将759 nm的光晶格光场锁定在传输腔上.实验结果表明,光晶格光场的线宽可以锁定和控制在1 MHz以下.光晶格光场与锁定于氢钟的光梳拍频结果显示,光晶格光场的长期频率稳定度优于3.6×10~(-10),可以确保实现镱原子光钟的不确定度进入10~(-17).     

Effective sideband cooling in an ytterbium optical lattice clock

Sideband cooling is a key technique for improving the performance of optical atomic clocks by preparing cold atoms and single ions into the ground vibrational state. In this work, we demonstrate detailed experimental research on pulsed Raman sideband cooling in a $^{171}$Yb optical lattice clock. A sequence comprised of interleaved 578 nm cooling pulses resonant on the 1st-order red sideband and 1388 nm repumping pulses is carried out to transfer atoms into the motional ground state. We successfully decrease the axial temperature of atoms in the lattice from 6.5 μK to less than 0.8 μK in the trap depth of 24 μK, corresponding to an average axial motional quantum number $\langle n_z\rangle<0.03$. Rabi oscillation spectroscopy is measured to evaluate the effect of sideband cooling on inhomogeneous excitation. The maximum excitation fraction is increased from 0.8 to 0.86, indicating an enhancement in the quantum coherence of the ensemble. Our work will contribute to improving the instability and uncertainty of Yb lattice clocks.     

锶玻色子的“魔术”波长光晶格装载实验研究

光晶格中性原子光钟的不确定度已达到10^-18量级. 本文介绍了碱土金属锶原子玻色子⁸⁸Sr在“魔术”波长处的一维光晶格装载, 实现冷锶原子的囚禁并使锶原子的钟跃迁能级(5s²) ¹S₀-(5s5p) ³P₀在此波长处的交流斯塔克光频移一致. 实验中半导体激光器产生“魔术”光波长(813 nm), 通过实验搭建光学驻波场并获得晶格激光聚焦光束, 束腰半径为38 μm. 经过一级冷却和二级冷却后温度约为2 μK的冷锶原子被此“魔术”波长光晶格囚禁. 通过实验测量得到锶原子玻色子⁸⁸Sr光晶格寿命为270 ms, 数目约为1.2×10⁵, 温度在3.5 μK左右, 此外研究了晶格光功率对晶格囚禁原子数目及温度的影响作用. 原子的光晶格装载为后续的钟跃迁提供了长的探测时间, 为进一步的光钟闭环提供了实验基础.     

Accurate optical lattice clock with 87Sr atoms

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 clocks with neutral atoms in free fall. The two previous measurements of this transition were found to disagree by about 2 x 10(-13), i.e., almost 4 times the combined error bar and 4 to 5 orders of magnitude larger than the claimed ultimate accuracy of this new type of clocks. Our measurement is in agreement with one of these two values and essentially resolves this discrepancy.     

Optical lattice clocks

Optical lattice clocks, which were first imagined in 2000, should allow to achieve unprecedented performances in the domain of atomic clocks. We first discuss here the principle of operation of these clocks, in particular trapping atoms in the Lamb-Dicke regime and the notion of magic wavelength. We then describe the operation of an actual lattice clock using Sr atoms and developed at LNE-SYRTE. Its present accuracy is 2.6 ⋅ 10^-15.     

Magnetic field-induced spectroscopy of forbidden optical transitions with application to lattice-based optical atomic clocks

We develop a method of spectroscopy that uses a weak static magnetic field to enable direct optical excitation of forbidden electric-dipole transitions that are otherwise prohibitively weak. The power of this scheme is demonstrated using the important application of optical atomic clocks based on neutral atoms confined to an optical lattice. The simple experimental implementation of this method--a single clock laser combined with a dc magnetic field--relaxes stringent requirements in current lattice-based clocks (e.g., magnetic field shielding and light polarization), and could therefore expedite the realization of the extraordinary performance level predicted for these clocks. We estimate that a clock using alkaline-earth-like atoms such as Yb could achieve a fractional frequency uncertainty of well below 10(-17) for the metrologically preferred even isotopes.     

Observation and absolute frequency measurements of the 1S0-3P0 optical clock transition in neutral ytterbium

We report the direct excitation of the highly forbidden (6s2) 1S0 <--> (6s6p) 3P0 optical transition in two odd isotopes of neutral ytterbium. As the excitation laser frequency is scanned, absorption is detected by monitoring the depletion from an atomic cloud at approximately 70 microK in a magneto-optical trap. The measured frequency in 171Yb (F=1/2) is 518,295,836,591.6 +/- 4.4 kHz. The measured frequency in 173Yb (F=5/2) is 518,294,576,847.6 +/- 4.4 kHz. Measurements are made with a femtosecond-laser frequency comb calibrated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology cesium fountain clock and represent nearly a 10(6)-fold reduction in uncertainty. The natural linewidth of these J=0 to J=0 transitions is calculated to be approximately 10 mHz, making them well suited to support a new generation of optical atomic clocks based on confinement in an optical lattice.     

光晶格原子钟研究进展

钟跃迁频率在光学频段的光晶格原子钟已经实现了10-19 量级的频率稳定度和10-18 量级的频率不确定度, 在量子频标、 量子模拟和精密测量等领域有着重要的应用. 本文综述了光晶格原子钟的发展历史、 工作原理、 性能评估和应用与展望.     

中性汞原子磁光阱装载率的优化

量子投影噪声是影响光晶格钟的一个重要参数,提高磁光阱中装载率有利于降低量子投影噪声,可提升光晶格钟的性能.针对实验所用的汞原子单腔磁光阱,本文分析并计算了磁光阱中汞原子受力情况和一维运动规律,在此基础上用随机数方法对磁光阱中汞原子三维装载进行了数值计算,获得了磁光阱中的稳态原子数,研究了磁光阱的冷却激光的光强、失谐量以及磁场梯度等参数对稳态原子数的影响,得出了获得最优装载率的实验参数.涉及的计算方法和结论对汞原子光晶格钟的实验设计具有参考价值.     

从引力波探测中的压缩光到光原子钟

2020 年度“墨子量子奖”授予量子精密测量领域, 获奖科学家是 Carlton Caves, 香取秀俊和叶军. 香取秀俊和叶军又获得2021 年基础物理学突破奖. 对于引力波探测中的量子噪声,Caves 分析了海森堡不确定关系所带来的测量精度极限, 并且提出用压缩光来克服这个极限. 这个方法已经被探测引力波的激光干涉仪实际采用. 原子钟基于原子中电子改变能量状态时, 发射或吸收的电磁波, 提供了最精确的时间和频率标准. 与基于微波的原子钟相比. 光原子钟, 特别是光晶格上的大量原子, 可以达到更好的精度. 叶军的研究组将约1 万个锶原子放在3 维光晶格中, 实现光原子钟, 相对精度达到2.5 × 10-19 . 香取秀俊的研究组搭建的两个可移动光原子钟, 精度达到了5 ×10-18 , 并用来测量了引力红移, 达到地面测量的最好精度.     

Optical clocks based on ultranarrow three-photon resonances in alkaline Earth atoms

A sharp resonance line that appears in three-photon transitions between the 1S0 and 3P0 states of alkaline earth and Yb atoms is proposed as an optical frequency standard. This proposal permits the use of the even isotopes, in which the clock transition is narrower than in proposed clocks using the odd isotopes and the energy interval is not affected by external magnetic fields or the polarization of trapping light. With this method, the width and the rate of the clock transition can, in principle, be continuously adjusted from the MHz level to sub-mHz without loss of signal amplitude by varying the intensities of the three optical beams. Doppler and recoil effects can be eliminated by proper alignment of the three optical beams or by point confinement in a lattice trap. Light-shift effects on the clock accuracy can be limited to below a part in 10(18).     

A high-stability semiconductor laser system for a <Superscript>88</Superscript>Sr-based optical lattice clock

We describe a frequency-stabilized diode laser at 698 nm used for high-resolution spectroscopy of the ¹S₀–³P₀ strontium clock transition. For the laser stabilization we use state-of-the-art symmetrically suspended optical cavities optimized for very low thermal noise at room temperature. Two-stage frequency stabilization to high-finesse optical cavities results in measured laser frequency noise about a factor of three above the cavity thermal noise between 2 Hz and 11 Hz. With this system, we demonstrate high-resolution remote spectroscopy on the ⁸⁸Sr clock transition by transferring the laser output over a phase noise-compensated 200-m-long fiber link between two separated laboratories. Our dedicated fiber link ensures a transfer of the optical carrier with frequency stability of 7×10⁻¹⁸ after 100 s integration time, which could enable the observation of the strontium clock transition with an atomic Q of 10¹⁴. Furthermore, with an eye toward the development of transportable optical clocks, we investigate how the complete laser system (laser+optics+cavity) can be influenced by environmental disturbances in terms of both short- and long-term frequency stability.