191 research outputs found
Minimizing the Dick Effect in an Optical Lattice Clock
We discuss the minimization of the Dick effect in an optical lattice clock.
We show that optimizing the time sequence of operation of the clock can lead to
a significant reduction of the clock stability degradation by the frequency
noise of the interrogation laser. By using a non-destructive detection of the
atoms, we are able to recycle most of the atoms between cycles and consequently
to strongly reduce the time spent capturing the atoms in each cycle. With
optimized parameters, we expect a fractional Allan deviation better than
2E-16 for the lattice clock.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics,
Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Contro
Collisionally Induced Atomic Clock Shifts and Correlations
We develop a formalism to incorporate exchange symmetry considerations into
the calculation of collisional frequency shifts and blackbody radiation effects
for atomic clock transitions using a density matrix formalism. The formalism is
developed for both fermionic and bosonic atomic clocks. Results for a finite
temperature Sr () atomic clock in a magic
wavelength optical lattice are presented.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Physical Review A (in press
Collisional shifts in optical-lattice atom clocks
We theoretically study the effects of elastic collisions on the determination
of frequency standards via Ramsey fringe spectroscopy in optical-lattice atom
clocks. Interparticle interactions of bosonic atoms in multiply-occupied
lattice sites can cause a linear frequency shift, as well as generate
asymmetric Ramsey fringe patterns and reduce fringe visibility due to
interparticle entanglement. We propose a method of reducing these collisional
effects in an optical lattice by introducing a phase difference of
between the Ramsey driving fields in adjacent sites. This configuration
suppresses site to site hopping due to interference of two tunneling pathways,
without degrading fringe visibility. Consequently, the probability of double
occupancy is reduced, leading to cancellation of collisional shifts.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figure
Electrodynamic trapping of spinless neutral atoms with an atom chip
Three dimensional electrodynamic trapping of neutral atoms has been
demonstrated. By applying time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields with
micron-sized electrodes, nearly strontium atoms in the state
have been trapped with a lifetime of 80 ms. In order to design the electrodes,
we numerically analyzed the electric field and simulated atomic trajectories in
the trap, which showed reasonable agreement with the experiment.Comment: 4pages, 4figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Interference-filter-stabilized external-cavity diode lasers
We have developed external-cavity diode lasers, where the wavelength
selection is assured by a low loss interference filter instead of the common
diffraction grating. The filter allows a linear cavity design reducing the
sensitivity of the wavelength and the external cavity feedback against
misalignment. By separating the feedback and wavelength selection functions,
both can be optimized independently leading to an increased tunability of the
laser. The design is employed for the generation of laser light at 698, 780 and
852 nm. Its characteristics make it a well suited candidate for space-born
lasers.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
From Optical Lattice Clocks to the Measurement of Forces in the Casimir Regime
We propose a novel experiment based on atoms trapped close to a macroscopic surface, to study the interactions between the atoms and the surface at very small separations (0.6 to 10 m). In this range the dominant potential is the QED interaction (Casimir-Polder and Van der Waals) between the surface and the atom. Additionally, several theoretical models suggest the possibility of Yukawa type potentials with sub-mm range, arising from new physics related to gravity. We propose a set-up very similar to neutral atom optical lattice clocks, but with the atoms trapped in lattice sites close to the reflecting mirror. A sequence of pulses of the probe laser at different frequencies is then used to create an interferometer with a coherent superposition between atomic states at different distances from the mirror. Assuming state of the art measurements, we expect that such an experiment would improve the best existing measurements of the atom-wall QED interaction by ≥2 orders of magnitude, whilst gaining up to 4 orders of magnitude on the best present limits on new interactions in the range between 100 nm and 100 m
An Optical Lattice Clock with Spin-polarized 87Sr Atoms
We present a new evaluation of an 87Sr optical lattice clock using spin
polarized atoms. The frequency of the 1S0-3P0 clock transition is found to be
429 228 004 229 873.6 Hz with a fractional accuracy of 2.6 10^{-15}, a value
that is comparable to the frequency difference between the various primary
standards throughout the world. This measurement is in excellent agreement with
a previous one of similar accuracy
Ultrastable lasers based on vibration insensitive cavities
We present two ultra-stable lasers based on two vibration insensitive cavity
designs, one with vertical optical axis geometry, the other horizontal.
Ultra-stable cavities are constructed with fused silica mirror substrates,
shown to decrease the thermal noise limit, in order to improve the frequency
stability over previous designs. Vibration sensitivity components measured are
equal to or better than 1.5e-11 per m.s^-2 for each spatial direction, which
shows significant improvement over previous studies. We have tested the very
low dependence on the position of the cavity support points, in order to
establish that our designs eliminate the need for fine tuning to achieve
extremely low vibration sensitivity. Relative frequency measurements show that
at least one of the stabilized lasers has a stability better than 5.6e-16 at 1
second, which is the best result obtained for this length of cavity.Comment: 8 pages 12 figure
- …