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Precisely engineered interactions between light and ultracold matter

Martin M. Boyd, A. D. Ludlow, Sebastian Blatt, Gretchen K. Campbell, Tanya Zelevinsky, Seth M. Foreman, J. Ye

Published Jan 1, 2008• 0 citations
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Abstract

— Modern capabilities in quantum state engineering of ultracold matter and precise control of light fields now permit accurate control of interactions between matter and field to suit applications for precision tests of fundamental physics. We report on our recent development of a highly stable and accurate optical atomic clock based on ultracold neutral Sr atoms confined in an optical lattice. We discuss precision tools for the lattice clock, including stabilized lasers with sub-Hz linewidth, femtosecond-comb based technology allowing accurate clock comparison in both microwave and optical domains, and clock transfer over optical fibers. With microkelvin Sr atoms confined in an optical lattice that provide a zero differential a.c. Stark shift between two clock states, we achieve a resonance quality factor >2×10 on the S0 − P0 doubly forbidden Sr clock transition at 698 nm. High resolution spectroscopy of spin-polarized atoms is used for both high-performance clock operations and accurate atomic structure measurement. The overall systematic uncertainty of the clock has been evaluated at the 10−16 level, while the stability approaches low 10−15 at 1 s. These developments in precise engineering of lightatom interactions can be extended to the field of ultracold molecules, bringing new prospects for precision measurements, quantum control, and determinations of the constancy of the fundamental constants.

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— Modern capabilities in quantum state engineering of ultracold matter and precise control of light fields now permit accurate control of interactions between matter and field to suit applications for precision tests of fundamental physics. We report on our recent development of a highly stable and accurate optical atomic clock based on ultracold neutral Sr atoms confined in an optical lattice. We discuss precision tools for the lattice clock, including stabilized lasers with sub-Hz linewidth, femtosecond-comb based technology allowing accurate clock comparison in both microwave and optical domains, and clock transfer over optical fibers. With microkelvin Sr atoms confined in an optical lattice that provide a zero differential a.c. Stark shift between two clock states, we achieve a resonance quality factor >2×10 on the S0 − P0 doubly forbidden Sr clock transition at 698 nm. High resolution spectroscopy of spin-polarized atoms is used for both high-performance clock operations and accurate atomic structure measurement. The overall systematic uncertainty of the clock has been evaluated at the 10−16 level, while the stability approaches low 10−15 at 1 s. These developments in precise engineering of lightatom interactions can be extended to the field of ultracold molecules, bringing new prospects for precision measurements, quantum control, and determinations of the constancy of the fundamental constants.
We report on our recent evaluations of stability and accuracy of the JILA Sr optical lattice clock. We discuss precision tools for the lattice clock, including a stabilized clock laser with sub-Hz linewidth, fs-comb based technology allowing accurate clock comparison in both the microwave and optical domains, and clock transfer over optical fiber in an urban environment. High resolution spectroscopy (Q > 2 × 10^14) of lattice-confined, spin-polarized strontium atoms is used for both a high-performance optical clock and atomic structure measurement. Using a Ca optical standard for comparison, the overall systematic uncertainty of the Sr clock is reduced to < 2 × 10^−16
Ultracold atoms and molecules provide ideal stages for precision tests of fundamental physics. With microkelvin neutral strontium atoms confined in an optical lattice, we have achieved a fractional resolution of 4 × 10-15 on the 1S0–3P0 doubly forbidden 87 Sr clock transition at 698 nm. Measurements of the clock line shifts as a function of experimental parameters indicate systematic errors below the 10-15 level. The ultrahigh spectral resolution permits resolving the nuclear spin states of the clock transition at small magnetic fields, leading to measurements of the 3P0 magnetic moment and metastable lifetime. In addition, photoassociation spectroscopy performed on the narrow 1S0–3P1 transition of 88 Sr shows promise for efficient optical tuning of the ground state scattering length and production of ultracold ground state molecules. Lattice-confined Sr 2 molecules are suitable for constraining the time variation of the proton–electron mass ratio. In a separate experiment, cold, stable, ground state polar molecules are produced from Stark decelerators. These cold samples have enabled an order-of-magnitude improvement in the measurement precision of ground state, Λ doublet microwave transitions in the OH molecule. Comparing the laboratory results to those from OH megamasers in interstellar space will allow a sensitivity of 10-6 for measuring the potential time variation of the fundamental fine structure constant Δα/α over 1010 years. These results have also led to improved understandings of the molecular structure. The study of the low magnetic field behavior of OH in its 2Π3/2 ro-vibronic ground state precisely determines a differential Landé g factor between opposite parity components of the Λ doublet.
Techniques of modern quantum optics allows for the preparation of atoms in well controlled quantum states ideal for precision measurements and tests of fundamental laws of physics. We report on our recent progress with a highly stable and accurate optical atomic clock based on ultracold fermionic87Sr atoms confined in a one dimensional optical lattice. Currently, we have carried out a detailed evaluation of our clock at the 10−16level and can report stability at 2 x 10−15level at one second. At typical operating parameters for the clock we observe evidence of a density dependent clock shift. Operating the clock at a particular excitation ratio of ground state and excited clock state we observe a shift consistent with zero.
Over the past few decades, rapid development of laser cooling techniques and narrow-linewidth lasers have allowed atom-based quantum clocks to achieve unprecedented precision. Techniques originally developed for atomic clocks can be extended to ultracold molecules, with applications ranging from quantum-state-controlled ultracold chemistry to searches for new physics. Because of the richness of molecular structure, quantum metrology based on molecules provides possibilities for testing physics that is beyond the scope of traditional atomic clocks. This thesis presents the work performed to establish a state-of-the-art quantum clock based on ultracold molecules. The molecular clock is based on a frequency difference between two vibrational levels in the electronic ground state of 88Sr2 diatomic molecules. Such a clock allows us test molecular QED, improve constraints on nanometer-scale gravity, and potentially provide a model-independent test of temporal variations of the proton-electron mass ratio. Trap-insensitive spectroscopy is crucial for extending coherent molecule-light interactions and achieving a high quality factor Q. We have demonstrated a magic wavelength technique for molecules by manipulating the optical lattice frequency near narrow polarizability resonances. This general technique allows us to increase the coherence time to tens of ms, an improvement of a factor of several thousand, and to narrow the linewidth of a 25 THz vibrational transition initially to 30 Hz. This width corresponds to the quality factor Q=8x10^11. Besides the molecular quantum metrology, investigations of novel phenomena in state-selected photodissociation are also described in this thesis, including magnetic-field control of photodissociation and observation of the crossover from ultracold to quasiclassical chemistry.
Ultracold atoms and molecules provide ideal stages for precision tests of fundamental physics. With microkelvin neutral strontium atoms confined in an optical lattice, we have achieved a fractional resolution of 4 × 10−15 on the 1S0 − 3P0 doubly‐forbidden 87Sr clock transition at 698 nm. The overall systematic uncertainty of the clock is evaluated below the 10−15 level. The ultrahigh spectral resolution permits resolving the nuclear spin states of the clock transition at small magnetic fields, leading to measurements of the 3P0 magnetic moment and metastable lifetime. In addition, photoassociation spectroscopy performed on the narrow 1S0 − 3P1 transition of 88Sr shows promise for efficient optical tuning of the ground state scattering length and production of ultracold ground‐state molecules. Lattice‐confined Sr2 molecules are suitable for constraining the time‐variation of electron‐proton mass ratio. In a separate experiment, cold, ground state polar molecules produced from Stark decelerators have enabled an order of magnitude improvement in measurement precision of ground‐state, Λ‐doublet microwave transitions in the OH molecule. Comparing the laboratory results to those from OH megamasers in interstellar space will allow a sensitivity of 10−6 for measuring the potential time variation of the fundamental fine structure constant Δα/α over 1010 years. These results have also led to improved understandings in the molecular structure. The study of the low magnetic field behavior of OH in its 2Π3/2 ro‐vibronic ground state precisely determines a differential Landé g‐factor between opposite parity components of the Λ‐doublet.
Results from the JILA optical lattice clock are presented. We report on our development of precision tools for the lattice clock, including a stabilized clock laser with sub-Hz linewidth, fs-comb based technology allowing accurate clock comparison in both the microwave and optical domains, and clock transfer over optical fiber in an urban environment. High resolution spectroscopy (Q > 2 times 1014) of lattice confined strontium atoms is used for both a high-performance optical clock and atomic structure measurements. The current accuracy and stability of the lattice clock are also discussed.