A pyramid MOT with integrated optical cavities as a cold atom platform for an optical lattice clock.
Sci Rep 2019;
9:11704. [PMID:
31406188 PMCID:
PMC6690909 DOI:
10.1038/s41598-019-48168-3]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
We realize a two-stage, hexagonal pyramid magneto-optical trap (MOT) with strontium, and demonstrate loading of cold atoms into cavity-enhanced 1D and 2D optical lattice traps, all within a single compact assembly of in-vacuum optics. We show that the device is suitable for high-performance quantum technologies, focusing especially on its intended application as a strontium optical lattice clock. We prepare 2 × 104 spin-polarized atoms of 87Sr in the optical lattice within 500 ms; we observe a vacuum-limited lifetime of atoms in the lattice of 27 s; and we measure a background DC electric field of 12 V m-1 from stray charges, corresponding to a fractional frequency shift of (-1.2 ± 0.8) × 10-18 to the strontium clock transition. When used in combination with careful management of the blackbody radiation environment, the device shows potential as a platform for realizing a compact, robust, transportable optical lattice clock with systematic uncertainty at the 10-18 level.
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