Dual-Mode Operation of an Optical Lattice Clock Using Strontium and Ytterbium Atoms

TL;DR

This paper presents a dual-mode optical lattice clock capable of operating with both strontium and ytterbium atoms, enabling precise frequency ratio measurements and reducing blackbody radiation shift uncertainties.

Contribution

The authors developed a dual-mode optical lattice clock using Sr and Yb atoms, demonstrating simultaneous operation and improved measurement accuracy.

Findings

Achieved dual-mode operation with Sr and Yb atoms in a single setup.

Successfully measured the frequency ratio of Sr and Yb clock transitions.

Reduced blackbody radiation shift uncertainty in frequency ratio measurements.

Abstract

We have developed an optical lattice clock that can operate in dual modes: a strontium (Sr) clock mode and an ytterbium (Yb) clock mode. Dual-mode operation of the Sr-Yb optical lattice clock is achieved by alternately cooling and trapping $^{87}$Sr and $^{171}$Yb atoms inside the vacuum chamber of the clock. Optical lattices for Sr and Yb atoms were arranged with horizontal and vertical configurations, respectively, resulting in a small distance of the order of 100 $\mu$m between the trapped Sr and Yb atoms. The $^{1}$S$_{0}$-$^{3}$P$_{0}$ clock transitions in the trapped atoms were interrogated in turn and the clock lasers were stabilized to the transitions. We demonstrated the frequency ratio measurement of the Sr and Yb clock transitions by using the dual-mode operation of the Sr-Yb optical lattice clock. The dual-mode operation can reduce the uncertainty of the blackbody radiation shift in the frequency ratio measurement, because both Sr and Yb atoms share the same blackbody radiation.