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Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements

Polarizability of an optical lattice clock at 20 ppm

Jeff A. Sherman, N. Lemke, N. Hinkley, Richard W. Fox, Andrew D. Ludlow, Chris W. Oates

Published Jul 1, 2012• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical lattice clocks, which are based on highly-forbidden1S0↔3P0transitions of ultracold alkaline-earth atoms confined in standing-wave optical potentials [1], offer exquisite frequency stability and uncertainty. We leverage these advantages to determine the sensitivity of a ytterbium optical lattice clock to external electric fields at 20 part-per-million (ppm) accuracy [2]. We describe an electrode design compatible with various neutral optical atomic clocks and capable of absolute electric field generation at the ppm level. Importantly, the result bounds the uncertainty of the ytterbium clock frequency due to room-temperature blackbody radiation at the level of 3×10-17.

DOI
10.1109/cpem.2012.6250908

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Optical lattice clocks, which are based on highly-forbidden1S0↔3P0transitions of ultracold alkaline-earth atoms confined in standing-wave optical potentials [1], offer exquisite frequency stability and uncertainty. We leverage these advantages to determine the sensitivity of a ytterbium optical lattice clock to external electric fields at 20 part-per-million (ppm) accuracy [2]. We describe an electrode design compatible with various neutral optical atomic clocks and capable of absolute electric field generation at the ppm level. Importantly, the result bounds the uncertainty of the ytterbium clock frequency due to room-temperature blackbody radiation at the level of 3×10-17.
Presently, the Stark effect contributes the largest source of uncertainty in a ytterbium optical atomic clock through blackbody radiation. By employing an ultracold, trapped atomic ensemble and high stability optical clock, we characterize the quadratic Stark effect with unprecedented precision. We report the ytterbium optical clock's sensitivity to electric fields (such as blackbody radiation) as the differential static polarizability of the ground and excited clock levels ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{\mathrm{clock}}=36.2612(7)\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kHz}\text{ }(\mathrm{kV}/\mathrm{cm}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. The clock's uncertainty due to room temperature blackbody radiation is reduced by an order of magnitude to $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}17}$.
An optical lattice clock probes a spectrally narrow electronic transition in an ensemble of optically trapped, laser-cooled atoms, for use as a time and frequency standard. To date, several lattice clocks have been demonstrated with superior stability and accuracy compared to primary frequency standards based on microwave transitions. Yet, the question of which atomic system (including the element and isotope) performs best as a lattice clock remains unsettled. This thesis describes the first detailed investigation of an optical lattice clock using a spin-1/2 isotope of the ytterbium atom. A spin-1/2 system possesses several advantages over higher-spin systems, including a simplified level structure (allowing for straightforward manipulation of the nuclear spin state) and the absence of any tensor light shift from the confining optical lattice. Moreover, the ytterbium atom (Yb) stands among the leading lattice clock candidates, offering a high-performance optical clock with some degree of experimental simplicity. The frequency stability of the Yb clock is highlighted by resolving an ultra-narrow clock spectrum with a full-width at half-maximum of 1 Hz, corresponding to a record quality factor Q = ν0/Δν = 5 × 1014. Moreover, this system can be highly accurate, which is demonstrated by characterizing the Yb clock frequency at the 3 × 10-16 level of fractional uncertainty, with further progress toward a ten-fold improvement also presented. To reach this low level of uncertainty required careful consideration of important systematic errors, including the identification of the Stark-canceling wavelength, where the clock’s sensitivity to the lattice intensity is minimized, a precise determination of the static polarizability of the clock transition, and the measurement and control of atom-atom collisions.
The recent progress in designing optical lattice clocks with fractional uncertainties below ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}17}$ requires unprecedented precision in estimating the role of higher-order effects of atom-lattice interactions. In this paper, we present results of systematic theoretical evaluations of the multipole, nonlinear, and anharmonic effects on the optical-lattice-based clocks of alkaline-earth-like atoms. Modifications of the model-potential approach are introduced to minimize discrepancies of theoretical evaluations from the most reliable experimental data. Dipole polarizabilities, hyperpolarizabilities, and multipolar polarizabilities for neutral Ca, Sr, Yb, Zn, Cd, and Hg atoms are calculated in the modified approach.
We show that optical spectroscopy of Rydberg states can provide accurate in situ thermometry at room temperature. Transitions from a metastable state to Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers of 25-30 have 200 times larger fractional frequency sensitivities to blackbody radiation than the strontium clock transition. We demonstrate that magic-wavelength lattices exist for both strontium and ytterbium transitions between the metastable and Rydberg states. Frequency measurements of Rydberg transitions with 10(-16) accuracy provide 10 mK resolution and yield a blackbody uncertainty for the clock transition of 10(-18).
We experimentally investigate an optical clock based on ;{171}Yb (I = 1/2) atoms confined in an optical lattice. We have evaluated all known frequency shifts to the clock transition, including a density-dependent collision shift, with a fractional uncertainty of 3.4 x 10;{-16}, limited principally by uncertainty in the blackbody radiation Stark shift. We measured the absolute clock transition frequency relative to the NIST-F1 Cs fountain clock and find the frequency to be 518 295 836 590 865.2(0.7) Hz.