Atomic-Array Optical Clock with Single-Atom Readout

Optical clocks have surpassed traditional microwave clocks in both stability and accuracy. They enable new experiments in geodesy, fundamental physics, and quantum many-body physics, in addition to a prospective redefinition of the second. Current optical clocks either interrogate a single ion or an ensemble of lattice-trapped atoms. Ideally, one could merge the benefits of these platforms by developing a clock based on a large array of isolated atoms that can be read out and controlled individually. As a major advance in this direction, we present an atomic-array optical clock with a single-atom-resolved readout of 40 individually trapped neutral atoms.

This new platform benefits from both a large and scalable number of atoms as well as the ability to prepare and read out individual isolated atoms. The latter capability avoids interaction shifts that degrade clock performance and enables the characterization of clock performance on the single-atom level. Specifically, we can measure inhomogeneous systematic errors across the array, and we propose a scheme leveraging single-atom readout to correct for them. We further study how varying the number of atoms contributes to clock stability.

Further, our work enables a myriad of new applications. Specifically, it provides atom-by-atom error evaluation, feedback, and thermometry; facilitates quantum metrology applications, such as quantum-enhanced clocks and clock networks; and enables novel quantum computation, simulation, and communication architectures that require optical-clock-state control combined with single-atom trapping.

from Hacker News https://ift.tt/2ZtNltr