Ultra-stable optical oscillators from quantum coherent and entangled systems

Short Name: USOQS, Project Number: 17FUN03
Image of a digital illustration of clock faces
Digital background illustration featuring clock faces

Exploiting optical clocks for time measurement and sensor development


From advanced navigation and telecommunications to radio astronomy and the testing of fundamental physical laws, the most precise and accurate time measurements are required.

To meet these technical challenges, optical clock development is at the forefront of research in this field.

The state-of-the-art technology, however, has its limits: frequency stability of the lasers used in such systems is affected both by thermal noise from mirror coatings and more fundamentally by so-called quantum projection noise (QPN). Advanced quantum-based sensors could also be realised if current technical constraints could be surpassed.

 

This project implemented, studied and characterised both established and brand-new methods for the development of optical clocks.

To go beyond noise limits and increase frequency stability, multi-particle entanglement of atoms/ions were investigated; this phenomenon could also be exploited for electromagnetic field measurements with enhanced sensitivity.

The project results support future realisations of the SI second through new frequency standards and significantly impact many fields requiring ultra-precise time measurement.

 

 

This project builds on from EMRP project EXL01 QESOCAS.

Project website
Publications
Optically Loaded Strontium Lattice Clock With a Single Multi-Wavelength Reference Cavity
2022

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement

SU(2)-in-SU(1,1) Nested Interferometer
2022

Physical Review Letters

Theoretical Investigation of Superradiant Lasing in 2-or 3-Level Atoms in an Optical Lattice
2021

2021 JOINT CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN FREQUENCY AND TIME FORUM AND IEEE INTERNATIONAL FREQUENCY CONTROL SYMPOSIUM

Towards a Continuous Active Optical Atomic Clock With Cold Strontium Atoms
2021

2021 JOINT CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN FREQUENCY AND TIME FORUM AND IEEE INTERNATIONAL FREQUENCY CONTROL SYMPOSIUM (IEEE EFTF-IFCS 2021)

Bose-Einstein Condensate Comagnetometer
2020

Physical Review Letters

Metrological Nonlinear Squeezing Parameter
2019

Physical Review Letters

Other Participants
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Italy)
Fundacio Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques (Spain)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany)
Kobenhavns Universitet (Denmark)
University of Durham (United Kingdom)
Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika w Toruniu (Poland)