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European Frequency and Time Forum

The optical 88Sr lattice clocks and stabilized fibre links: A frequency reference for the VLBI system over a 15.5-km link and an absolute measurement of the clock transition over a 330-km link

Piotr Morzyński, Marcin Bober, Przemysław Krehlik, Łukasz Śliwczyński, M. Lipiński, Eugeniusz Pazderski, A. Marecki, Jerzy Nawrocki, Piotr Ablewski, B. Campbell, Piotr Masłowski, Agata Cygan, Paweł Nogaś, Daniel Lisak, R. Ciuryło, M. Zawada

Published Apr 1, 2016• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report a system of two independent strontium optical lattice standards with88Sr probed with a single shared ultra-narrow laser. We achieved frequency stability (frequency between two standards) of 7 × 10-17. The absolute frequency of the clock transition can be measured by the use of an optical frequency comb referenced to the UTC(AOS) and UTC(PL) via the 330-km stabilized fibre optic link of the OPTIME network. The 15.5-km stabilized fibre optic link between National Laboratory for Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (KL FAMO) and Toruń Centre for Astronomy made it possible to use the optical clocks as a frequency reference for the 32-metre precise parabolic antenna of the radio telescope in the Toruń Centre for Astronomy participating in the VLBI networks. We report the world's first astronomical VLBI measurements referenced to an optical atomic clock.

DOI
10.1109/eftf.2016.7477780

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We report a system of two independent strontium optical lattice standards with88Sr probed with a single shared ultra-narrow laser. We achieved frequency stability (frequency between two standards) of 7 × 10-17. The absolute frequency of the clock transition can be measured by the use of an optical frequency comb referenced to the UTC(AOS) and UTC(PL) via the 330-km stabilized fibre optic link of the OPTIME network. The 15.5-km stabilized fibre optic link between National Laboratory for Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (KL FAMO) and Toruń Centre for Astronomy made it possible to use the optical clocks as a frequency reference for the 32-metre precise parabolic antenna of the radio telescope in the Toruń Centre for Astronomy participating in the VLBI networks. We report the world's first astronomical VLBI measurements referenced to an optical atomic clock.
Laser frequency stabilization and atom manipulation are important techniques for optical frequency metrology. We report on the development of an ytterbium (171Yb) and a strontium (87Sr) optical lattice clock at the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ). The result of absolute frequency measurement of the171Yb lattice clock is shown. We also report on narrow-linewidth fiber-based frequency combs that are used not only to measure the absolute frequency of the optical lattice clocks but also to servo control the frequency of the lasers for cooling and trapping Yb and Sr atoms.
The transfer of ultra-stable frequencies between distant laboratories is required by many applications from fundamental metrology to high-precision measurements. For that purpose, optical fibre links have been intensively studied over the last decade. They have demonstrated impressive results far beyond the GPS capabilities on distances up to 2000 km, thanks to an active compensation of the fiber propagation noise.Up to now, optical links has been mainly implemented between two labs, when future applications will require the development of metrological fiber networks. Towards this goal, we have developed a few techniques which allow us to distribute the ultrastable optical signal to many users simultaneously. We have designed repeater laser stations, which can be used to build a cascaded link or to distribute the ultrastable signal among two optical links [1]. These stations allow us also to compare the output end signals of two optical links. These versatile stations will be a key-component of the national metrological network currently being developed in France within the Refimeve+ project. To complete the network, we have demonstrated the extraction of the ultrastable signal from a main link and its seeding to a secondary link [2].Optical links are already been successfully used for clocks comparison. Recently we were able to compare the atomic clocks of the French and German National Metrology Institutes through two connected optical links of total length 1415-km [3]. We found that the two fully independent Sr lattice optical clocks at the two sites agreed to better than 5x10-17 limited only by the clocks uncertainties. A fractional statistical uncertainty of 3x10-17 was reached after only 1000 s averaging time, which is 10 times better, and more than four orders of magnitude faster than with any other existing frequency transfer method. The atomic fountain primary frequency standards from the two institutes were also compared and they were found to agree well within their combined uncertainties of a few 10-16 [4].
Leveraging the unrivalled performance of optical clocks as key tools for geo-science, for astronomy and for fundamental physics beyond the standard model requires comparing the frequency of distant optical clocks faithfully. Here, we report on the comparison and agreement of two strontium optical clocks at an uncertainty of 5 × 10(-17) via a newly established phase-coherent frequency link connecting Paris and Braunschweig using 1,415 km of telecom fibre. The remote comparison is limited only by the instability and uncertainty of the strontium lattice clocks themselves, with negligible contributions from the optical frequency transfer. A fractional precision of 3 × 10(-17) is reached after only 1,000 s averaging time, which is already 10 times better and more than four orders of magnitude faster than any previous long-distance clock comparison. The capability of performing high resolution international clock comparisons paves the way for a redefinition of the unit of time and an all-optical dissemination of the SI-second.
Abstract Two 87Sr optical lattice clocks (OLCs) are being developed and operated at the National Institute of Metrology (NIM), located on different campuses that are 40 km apart. In order to compare the optical frequencies of these two Sr OLCs, a 58-km noise canceled fiber link is built to transfer both a 1542-nm transfer laser and a microwave reference from Changping campus to Hepingli campus. Two commercial optical frequency combs (OFCs) with adapted single-branch 698/1542 nm outputs coherently unite the two 698-nm clock lasers and the 1542-nm transfer laser. The fractional instability of the comparison yields 3.1 × 10−17 at 10000 s averaging time. The measured fractional frequency difference between these two Sr OLCs was evaluated to be 1.9(3.2) × 10−17, which is within their claimed uncertainties. This result demonstrates the consistency of their frequencies when they serve as optical frequency standards. Our remote comparison demonstrates the feasibility of optical clock comparison through a long-distance fiber link and contributes to the progress of redefinition of the SI second.