Abstract
Optical clocks are the most precise measurement devices. Here we experimentally characterize one such clock based on the 1S0-3P0 transition of neutral 171Yb atoms confined in an optical lattice. Given that the systematic evaluation using an interleaved stabilization scheme is unable to avoid noise from the clock laser, synchronous comparisons against a second 171Yb lattice system were implemented to accelerate the evaluation. The fractional instability of one clock falls below 4 × 10−17 after an averaging over a time of 5,000 seconds. The systematic frequency shifts were corrected with a total uncertainty of 1.7 × 10−16. The lattice polarizability shift currently contributes the largest source. This work paves the way to measuring the absolute clock transition frequency relative to the primary Cs standard or against the International System of Units (SI) second.
Highlights
The past decade has seen rapid breakthroughs in the development of atomic clocks based on optical transitions, the optical clocks[1,2]
We further report on the systematic evaluation of our 171Yb optical lattice clock, which lays the groundwork for future absolute frequency measurements
The short-term stability in the synchronous measurement has an improvement by judging from the interleaved measurements, it is still worse than the estimation from the Dick effect
Summary
The past decade has seen rapid breakthroughs in the development of atomic clocks based on optical transitions, the optical clocks[1,2]. Along with the verification of physical theories, dedicated optical networks for linking distant optical clocks are being established[15], thereby enabling applications in fields including time and frequency dissemination, geodesy, and satellite-based navigation[16,17,18,19] These achievements will open up the possibility of a redefinition of the SI second in the future[20,21]. Because of a lack of auxiliary accurate optical-frequency references, some evaluations have to be performed using the self-comparison method In this case, the stabilization of the clock laser on the atomic resonance involves two sequences that are interleaved in time, with the parameter alternating during the interrogation periods. The comparison allows us to achieve better clock stability, which helps uncover quickly the frequency shift sources that affect the clock accuracy
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