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Single-atom optical clock with high accuracy.

W H Oskay1, S A Diddams, E A Donley

  • 1Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|August 16, 2006
PubMed
Summary
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A new optical frequency standard using a mercury ion surpasses cesium atomic clocks in accuracy. This advancement in timekeeping offers unprecedented precision for scientific measurement and future technological applications.

Area of Science:

  • Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
  • Metrology and Measurement Science
  • Quantum Information Science

Background:

  • Cesium atomic clocks have been the global standard for timekeeping for 50 years.
  • The cesium fountain standard NIST-F1 exhibits an inaccuracy of approximately 4 x 10(-16).
  • Advancements in optical frequency standards offer potential for higher precision timekeeping.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the accuracy of the NIST-F1 cesium fountain standard with a novel optical frequency standard.
  • To evaluate the performance of a single, laser-cooled mercury ion as an optical frequency standard.
  • To measure the absolute frequency of the mercury ion's ultraviolet transition against the cesium standard.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a single, laser-cooled mercury ion to establish an optical frequency standard.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Employed the cesium fountain standard NIST-F1 as a reference for frequency comparison.
  • Measured the absolute frequency of the mercury ion transition with high precision.

    • Main Results:

    • The mercury ion optical frequency standard achieved a fractional systematic frequency uncertainty below 7.2 x 10(-17).
    • The absolute frequency of the mercury ion transition was measured to be 1,064,721,609,899,144.94 (97) Hz.
    • The measurement yielded a total fractional uncertainty of 9.1 x 10(-16), setting a new record for optical frequency measurement accuracy.

    Conclusions:

    • The mercury ion optical frequency standard demonstrates superior accuracy compared to the cesium fountain standard.
    • This research establishes a new benchmark for the most accurate absolute measurement of an optical frequency.
    • The findings pave the way for next-generation atomic clocks with enhanced precision.