Prospective Optical Lattice Clocks Based On M1/E2 Transitions In Neutral Atoms With Hyperfine Structure

Published

March 5, 2024

Author(s)

Tobias Bothwell

Abstract

Optical lattice clocks combine the accuracy and stability required of next-generation 1 frequency standards. At the heart of these clocks are carefully engineered optical lattices tuned to a 2 wavelength where the differential AC Stark shift between ground and excited states vanishes - the so 3 called 'magic' wavelength. To date, only alkaline-earth like atoms utilizing clock transitions with total 4 electronic angular momentum J=0 have successfully realized these magic wavelength optical lattices 5 at the level necessary for state-of-the-art clock operation. In this article we discuss two additional 6 types of clock transitions based on M1/E2 optical transitions in atoms with hyperfine structure which 7 satisfy the necessary requirements for controlling lattice induced light shifts. We propose realizing (i) 8 forbidden M1/E2 clock transitions between same-parity clock states with total angular momentum 9 F=0 and (ii) M1/E2 clock transitions between a state with F=0 and a second state with J=1/2, mF=0. 10 We present atomic species which fulfill these requirements before giving a detailed discussion both 11 manganese and copper, demonstrating how these transitions provide the necessary suppression of 12 vector and tensor lattice light shifts for clock operation. Such realization of alternative optical lattice 13 clocks promises to provide a rich variety of new atomic species for neutral atom clock operation, with 14 applications from many-body physics to searches for new physics.

Citation

Atoms

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms12030014

Local Download

Keywords

Optical lattice clock, hyperfine structure, ac Stark shifts

Citation

Bothwell, T. (2024), Prospective Optical Lattice Clocks Based On M1/E2 Transitions In Neutral Atoms With Hyperfine Structure, Atoms, [online], https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms12030014, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=957172 (Accessed October 12, 2025)