Ultrastable and accurate optical clocks, resonators and frequency dissemination

Stronlgy focused laser beams allow several thousands of neutral atoms to be trapped at the same time. The optical lattice's special geometry is particularly well suited for investigating atomic reference transitions, e.g. in strontium atoms. Since all trapped atoms can be interrogated at the same time, an optical clock based on this principle has a particularly high signal-to-noise ratio and allows high resolution in a short averaging period. Besides the laboratory setup, we are also operating the first portable lattice clock. Both setups have been used for geodetic studies to measure the difference in height between two clocks by exploiting the relativistic red shift from the optical path difference between the two clocks connected with each other via an optical fiber link.

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The ytterbium ion can easily be cooled with diode lasers and stored in radio-frequency traps for a long time. In contrast to other ions currently under investigation, 171Yb⁺ provides two reference transitions suitable for an optical clock. In addition to an electric quadrupole transition, an electric octupole transition connects the ground state and the first excited state. The two transitions differ both in their sensitivity to external electric and magnetic fields and in the optimal excitation pulse duration. Utilization of both transitions of a single trapped ion permits the realization of one of the world's most accurate optical clocks. Besides the use as a high-accuracy frequency standard, the electronic structure of the ytterbium ion enables sensitive tests of the equivalence principle and searches for so-called “new physics”.

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The quantum logic clock allows an ion which is particularly well suited as a "clock ion" to be cooled and read out by means of a "logic ion" that can efficiently and easily be manipulated and controlled. This facilitates the flexible selection of the clock ion that does not need to be directly laser-cooled or read out. The clock ion we use is Al⁺, which features an extremely low sensitivity to changes in external fields and thus enables the world's most accurate clocks. Applications range from fundamental physics to relativistic geodesy.

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Optical ion clocks profit from the highly accurate control of a single trapped ion, which can be positioned and studied with nm precision. This leads to a favorably low systematic uncertainty. However, the state information read out from a single quantum absorber is limited and leads to a intrinsically low stability of the clock requiring long integration times. Precision spectroscopy of Coulomb crystals offers the new possibility to realize a stable ion frequency standard. This way, relative frequency uncertainties in the 10^-18 range can be obtained in a fraction of the time required by today's ion clocks. Thus, the multi-ion approach can significantly improve ion clocks and their application in tests of fundamental physics and also as sensors for the gravitational potential. 

As suitable candidates for a new optical frequency standard ensembles of Yb⁺ and In⁺ are investigated. For this purpose, a new scalable trap technology was developed, allowing to store ion ensembles with a high level of control. This breakthrough facilitates the use of ion crystals for time and frequency metrology. 

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Within the pilot project "Optical single-ion clocks for end-users" (opticlock) funded by the BMBF, which is managed jointly by TOPTICA and PTB, the development of a demonstrator for a commercial optical clock is pursued. This project is a prime example of the application potential of quantum technologies; furthermore, it will be the first optical clock developed with the participation of industry worldwide whose frequency properties are better by one order of magnitude than the clocks and frequency references currently available.

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