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arXiv · 1201.3544

A neutral atom frequency reference in the deep UV with 10^(-15) range uncertainty

J. J. McFerran·L. Yi·S. Mejri·S. Di Manno·W. Zhang·J. Guéna·Y. Le Coq·S. Bize
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Abstract

We present an assessment of the (6s^{2})1S0 -> (6s7s)3P0 clock transition frequency in 199Hg with an uncertainty reduction of nearly three orders of magnitude and demonstrate an atomic quality factor, Q, of ~10^(14). The 199Hg atoms are confined in a vertical lattice trap with light at the newly determined magic wavelength of 362.5697 +/-0.0011 nm and at a lattice depth of 20Er. The atoms are loaded from a single stage magneto-optical trap with cooling light at 253.7 nm. The high Q factor is obtained with an 80 ms Rabi pulse at 265.6 nm. The frequency of the clock transition is found to be 1 128 575 290 808 162.0 +/-6.4 (sys.) +/-0.3 (stat.) Hz (fractional uncertainty = 5.7x10^(-15)). Neither an atom number nor second order Zeeman dependence have yet to be detected. Only three laser wavelengths are used for the cooling, lattice trapping, probing and detection.

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J. J. McFerran, L. Yi, S. Mejri, S. Di Manno, W. Zhang, J. Guéna, Y. Le Coq, S. Bize. 2012-01-17. A neutral atom frequency reference in the deep UV with 10^(-15) range uncertainty. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.108.183004

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