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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Preparing an Isotopically Pure 229Th Ion Beam for Studies of 229mTh
Published on: May 3, 2019
Accurate optical lattice clock with 87Sr atoms.
Rodolphe Le Targat1, Xavier Baillard, Mathilde Fouché
1LNE-SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris 61, Avenue de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France.
We precisely measured the strontium-87 (87Sr) atomic transition frequency using an optical lattice clock. This resolves a significant discrepancy in previous measurements, achieving high accuracy for strontium atomic clocks.
Area of Science:
- Atomic physics
- Quantum optics
- Metrology
Background:
- Optical lattice clocks offer high precision for fundamental physics measurements.
- Previous measurements of the 87Sr 1S0-3P0 transition frequency showed significant discrepancies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To perform a high-accuracy frequency measurement of the 87Sr 1S0-3P0 transition.
- To resolve the existing disagreement between prior experimental results.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an optical lattice clock with 87Sr atoms.
- Performed precise frequency measurements of the 1S0-3P0 atomic transition.
Main Results:
- The frequency was determined to be 429 228 004 229 879(5) Hz.
- The fractional uncertainty is comparable to state-of-the-art neutral atom optical clocks.
- The new measurement resolves a discrepancy of ~2 x 10(-13) Hz between previous studies.
Conclusions:
- This work provides a highly accurate frequency for the 87Sr 1S0-3P0 transition.
- The measurement validates the performance of optical lattice clocks.
- The resolved discrepancy advances the field of atomic clocks and metrology.
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