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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 104 » Issue 7
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 070802 (2010) [4 pages]

Frequency Comparison of Two High-Accuracy Al+ Optical Clocks

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C. W. Chou*, D. B. Hume, J. C. J. Koelemeij†, D. J. Wineland, and T. Rosenband
Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA

Received 23 November 2009; published 17 February 2010

See accompanying Physics Synopsis

We have constructed an optical clock with a fractional frequency inaccuracy of 8.6×10-18, based on quantum logic spectroscopy of an Al+ ion. A simultaneously trapped Mg+ ion serves to sympathetically laser cool the Al+ ion and detect its quantum state. The frequency of the 1S0↔3P0 clock transition is compared to that of a previously constructed Al+ optical clock with a statistical measurement uncertainty of 7.0×10-18. The two clocks exhibit a relative stability of 2.8×10-15τ-1/2, and a fractional frequency difference of -1.8×10-17, consistent with the accuracy limit of the older clock.

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.070802
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.070802
PACS:
06.20.F-

*chinwen@nist.gov

†Present address: Laser Centre Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

 
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