An atomic clock with $1\times 10^{-18}$ room-temperature blackbody Stark uncertainty

Abstract

The Stark shift due to blackbody radiation (BBR) is the key factor limiting the performance of many atomic frequency standards, with the BBR environment inside the clock apparatus being difficult to characterize at a high level of precision. Here we demonstrate an in-vacuum radiation shield that furnishes a uniform, well-characterized BBR environment for the atoms in an ytterbium optical lattice clock. Operated at room temperature, this shield enables specification of the BBR environment to a corresponding fractional clock uncertainty contribution of $5.5\times 10^{-19}$. Combined with uncertainty in the atomic response, the total uncertainty of the BBR Stark shift is now $1\times 10^{-18}$. Further operation of the shield at elevated temperatures enables a direct measure of the BBR shift temperature dependence and demonstrates consistency between our evaluated BBR environment and the expected atomic response.

5 pages, 3 figures, accepted to PRL

References in corpus (6)

• Sr lattice clock at 1x10^{-16} fractional uncertainty by remote optical evaluation with a Ca clock
• Multipolar theory of black-body radiation shift of atomic energy levels and its implications for optical lattice clocks
• Trapping of Neutral Mercury Atoms and Prospects for Optical Lattice Clocks
• High accuracy correction of blackbody radiation shift in an optical lattice clock
• Determination of the 5d6s 3D1 state lifetime and blackbody radiation clock shift in Yb
• Frequency shift of cesium clock transition due to blackbody radiation

Cited by in corpus (7)

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• Frequency ratios of Sr, Yb and Hg based optical lattice clocks and their applications
• Absolute frequency measurement of the 1S0 - 3P0 transition of 171Yb
• The unit of time: present and future directions
• Rydberg Electrometry for Optical Lattice Clocks
• Uncertainty evaluation of an ${}^{171}$Yb optical lattice clock at NMIJ
• Modeling motional energy spectra and lattice light shifts in optical lattice clocks