Conveners
Optical Ion Clocks I
- Fritz Riehle
Optical atomic clocks are the most precise and accurate measurement devices ever constructed, reaching fractional systematic uncertainties below one part in $10^{-18}$ [1]. Their exceptional performance opens up a wide range of applications in fundamental science and technology. The extreme properties of highly charged ions (HCI) make them highly sensitive probes for tests of fundamental...
We discuss some of the many advantages that lutetium offers as an optical frequency reference. We illustrate the ease at which a comparison at the level of 1e-18 can be achieved and we show how the use of two available clock transitions can be used to verify clock performance between two systems.
In 2012, we proposed multi-ion spectroscopy to improve the stability of optical ion clocks which is fundamentally limited by the quantum projection noise of the single ion. Multi-ion clocks will not only improve the stability by exploiting the higher signal to noise of multiple ions or their uncertainty by allowing for sympathetic cooling of clock ions using a separate ion species, but will be...
