# A pyramid MOT with integrated optical cavities as a cold atom platform for an optical lattice clock

## TL;DR

This paper presents a compact, integrated platform using a pyramid magneto-optical trap with optical cavities for cold strontium atoms, demonstrating its potential for high-precision, transportable optical lattice clocks with minimal systematic errors.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated design combining a pyramid MOT with cavity-enhanced optical lattices for strontium, advancing compact and robust atomic clock technology.

## Key findings

- Loaded 2×10^4 atoms in 500 ms
- Achieved 27 s atom lifetime in lattice
- Measured fractional frequency shift of ~1×10^{-18}

## 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 $2\times 10^4$ spin-polarized atoms of $^{87}$Sr 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 Vm$^{-1}$ from stray charges, corresponding to a fractional frequency shift of $(-1.2\times 0.8)\times 10^{-18}$ 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.