Systematic evaluation of a strontium optical lattice clock at 1x10$^{-16}$

ORAL

Abstract

We have recently completed an evaluation of the uncertainty of a $^{87}$Sr optical lattice clock at the 1x$10^{-16}$ fractional level, surpassing the best current evaluations of Cs primary standards. The evaluation was performed using a remote comparison of optical clocks over km-scale urban distances. This allowed us to evaluate the Sr clock located at JILA, against the Ca optical clock operated $\sim$4km away at NIST via an optical fiber link. We will report on the observation of density-dependent effects in the doubly spin-polarized (fermionic) sample. Using a single spin state, and by varying the excitation fraction, we have found experimental parameters for which the density shift of the clock transition is consistent with zero.

Authors

  • Gretchen Campbell

    • JILA, NIST and the University of Colorado
  • Andrew D. Ludlow

  • Sebastian Blatt

  • Tanya Zelevinsky

  • Martin M. Boyd

  • Michael J. Martin

  • Jan W. Thomsen

  • Jun Ye

    • JILA, NIST and the University of Colorado Department of Physics
  • Tara M. Fortier

  • Jason E. Stalnaker

  • Scott A. Diddams

  • Chris W. Oates

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology