Trapping of Neutral Mercury Atoms and Prospects for Optical Lattice Clocks

Abstract

We report a vapor-cell magneto-optical trapping of Hg isotopes on the ${}^1{S}_0-{}^3{P}_1$ intercombination transition. Six abundant isotopes, including four bosons and two fermions, were trapped. Hg is the heaviest non-radioactive atom trapped so far, which enables sensitive atomic searches for ``new physics'' beyond the standard model. We propose an accurate optical lattice clock based on Hg and evaluate its systematic accuracy to be better than $10^{-18}$. Highly accurate and stable Hg-based clocks will provide a new avenue for the research of optical lattice clocks and the time variation of the fine-structure constant.

4 pages, 3 figures

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• Multipolar theory of black-body radiation shift of atomic energy levels and its implications for optical lattice clocks
• Observation of the 1S0 - 3P0 clock transition in 27Al+
• ${}^{87}$Sr lattice clock with inaccuracy below 10${}^{-15}$
• Laser-trapping of Ra-225 and Ra-226 with repumping by room temperature blackbody radiation
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