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Spin-1/2 Optical Lattice Clock

N. D. Lemke, A. D. Ludlow, Z. W. Barber, T. M. Fortier, S. A. Diddams, Y. Jiang, S. R. Jefferts, T. P. Heavner, T. E. Parker, and C. W. Oates
Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 063001 – Published 3 August 2009
Physics logo See Synopsis: Atoms in a lattice keep time

Abstract

We experimentally investigate an optical clock based on () 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 , 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.

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  • Received 23 March 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.063001

Synopsis

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Atoms in a lattice keep time

Published 3 August 2009

An optical-lattice clock based on atoms with spin-1/2 nuclei could potentially challenge the current clock standard.

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Authors & Affiliations

N. D. Lemke, A. D. Ludlow, Z. W. Barber, T. M. Fortier, S. A. Diddams, Y. Jiang, S. R. Jefferts, T. P. Heavner, T. E. Parker, and C. W. Oates

  • National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA

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Issue

Vol. 103, Iss. 6 — 7 August 2009

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