Half-minute-scale atomic coherence and high relative stability in a tweezer clock

Aaron W. Young, William J. Eckner, William R. Milner, Dhruv Kedar, Matthew A. Norcia, Eric Oelker, Nathan Schine, Jun Ye and Adam M. Kaufman ()
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Aaron W. Young: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
William J. Eckner: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
William R. Milner: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
Dhruv Kedar: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
Matthew A. Norcia: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
Eric Oelker: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
Nathan Schine: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
Jun Ye: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology
Adam M. Kaufman: JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology

Nature, 2020, vol. 588, issue 7838, 408-413

Abstract: Abstract The preparation of large, low-entropy, highly coherent ensembles of identical quantum systems is fundamental for many studies in quantum metrology1, simulation2 and information3. However, the simultaneous realization of these properties remains a central challenge in quantum science across atomic and condensed-matter systems2,4–7. Here we leverage the favourable properties of tweezer-trapped alkaline-earth (strontium-88) atoms8–10, and introduce a hybrid approach to tailoring optical potentials that balances scalability, high-fidelity state preparation, site-resolved readout and preservation of atomic coherence. With this approach, we achieve trapping and optical-clock excited-state lifetimes exceeding 40 seconds in ensembles of approximately 150 atoms. This leads to half-minute-scale atomic coherence on an optical-clock transition, corresponding to quality factors well in excess of 1016. These coherence times and atom numbers reduce the effect of quantum projection noise to a level that is comparable with that of leading atomic systems, which use optical lattices to interrogate many thousands of atoms in parallel11,12. The result is a relative fractional frequency stability of 5.2(3) × 10−17τ−1/2 (where τ is the averaging time in seconds) for synchronous clock comparisons between sub-ensembles within the tweezer array. When further combined with the microscopic control and readout that are available in this system, these results pave the way towards long-lived engineered entanglement on an optical-clock transition13 in tailored atom arrays.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-3009-y

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