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Annalen der Physik

A 12‐GHz Standard Clock on Trapped Ytterbium Ions

R. Casdorff, V. Enders, R. Blatt, Werner Neuhauser, P. E. Toschek

Published Jan 1, 1991• 39 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The ground‐state hyperfine transition ΔmF = 0 of trapped Yb+ ions has been measured as 12642812119.6 (0.4) Hz. The frequency instability of a microwave, controlled by this resonance, is characterised by the standard deviation 2·10−11· (τ/sec)−1/2, where τ is the time separation of probes. The performance of this frequency standard or “clock” exceeds the stability of commercial cesium clocks and still offers major potential for improvement.

DOI
10.1002/andp.19915030105

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Joint Conference of the European Frequency and Time Forum and IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFCS)•Apr 24, 2022•2 citations
Abstract The ground‐state hyperfine transition ΔmF = 0 of trapped Yb+ ions has been measured as 12642812119.6 (0.4) Hz. The frequency instability of a microwave, controlled by this resonance, is characterised by the standard deviation 2·10−11· (τ/sec)−1/2, where τ is the time separation of probes. The performance of this frequency standard or “clock” exceeds the stability of commercial cesium clocks and still offers major potential for improvement.
The ground-state hyperfine transitions of trapped clouds of 9Be+, 201Hg+, and 171Yb ions have been made control microwave oscillators.1-5 The frequency stability of these atomic clocks exceeds that of a primary Cs frequency standard in the short-term regime and that of a hydrogen maser for long times. Systematic perturbations derive from the members of the cloud being placed in an inhomogeneous field and showing residual motion. A single cold ion kept in the field node of an electrodynamic trap lacks these perturbations. The precise control of a standard frequency requires a narrow and weak transition whose resonance can be hardly detected by observation of the fluorescence on this line.
We report on the development of a portable, trapped-ion, microwave frequency standard based on the 12.6 GHz hyperfine transition in laser-cooled ytterbium-171 ions. The entire system fits into a 6U 19-inch rack unit (51×49×2851\times49\times2851×49×28 cm) and comprises laser, electronics and physics package subsystems. The performance of this development system is evaluated; the fractional frequency instability was measured to be 3.6×10−12/√τ3.6\times10^{-12}/\surd\tau3.6×10−12/√τ for averaging times between 30 s and 1500 s.
We describe the development and frequency instability measurements of a highly miniaturized, buffer gas cooled, trapped-ion atomic clock. The clock utilizes the 12.6 GHz hyperfine transition of the171Yb+ion. A custom-built 3 cm3vacuum package containing the ion trap is integrated with other key elements of the atomic frequency standard, including a photo multiplier tube, miniaturized laser sources at 369 nm and 935 nm, a local oscillator, and control electronics. With the clock physics package assembled on a 10 cm × 15 cm breadboard, the long-term fractional frequency instability was measured to be 6 × 10-14at 25 days of integration. Later, the clock physics package was further miniaturized, and the frequency instability was measured to be 2 × 10-11/τ1/2at integration times up to 10,000 s.