Article abstract
Nature Physics 4, 954 - 959 (2008)
Published online: 26 October 2008 | doi:10.1038/nphys1108
Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Quantum physics | Techniques and instrumentation
Optical lattice clocks with non-interacting bosons and fermions
Tomoya Akatsuka1,2, Masao Takamoto1,2 & Hidetoshi Katori1,2
Abstract
Quantum statistics fundamentally controls the way particles interact; bosons tend to bunch together, whereas fermions repulse each other. As a consequence, statistically different isotopes are found in different macroscopic quantum states at ultracold temperatures. This is related to the total atomic spin, which forces atoms to couple to ambient fields. In designing high-precision atomic clocks that operate at a fractional uncertainty of 10-15 or less, quantum statistics and therefore the spins of the interrogated atoms have an essential role in determining the clocks' ultimate performance. Here, we discuss the design of optical lattice clocks in view of the quantum statistics and lattice geometries. We propose two configurations that both make the interrogated atoms non-interacting: spin-polarized fermions in a one-dimensional (1D) and bosons in a 3D lattice. A 3D clock with bosonic 88Sr is demonstrated for the first time, in addition to a 1D clock with fermionic 87Sr. The sequential operation of the two clocks enables us to evaluate the clock stability with an uncertainty below 1
10-15 and to determine the isotope shift with significant reduction of the uncertainty related to atomic collisions.
- Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
- CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
Correspondence to: Hidetoshi Katori1,2 e-mail: katori@amo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
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