NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Frequency Shifts in an Optical Lattice Clock Due to Magnetic Dipole and Electric-quadrupole Transitions
Published
Author(s)
A. V. Taichenachev, V. I. Yudin, V.D. Ovsiannikov, V.G. Pal'chikov, Christopher W. Oates
Abstract
We report an hitherto undiscovered frequency shift for forbidden J =0 - J =0 clock transitions excited in atoms confined to an optical lattice. These shifts result from magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole transitions, which have a spatial dependence in an optical lattice that differs from that of the stronger electric dipole transitions. In combination with the residual translational atomic motion in an optical lattice, this spatial mismatch leads to a frequency shift via differential energy level spacing in the lattice wells for ground state and excited state atoms. We estimate that this effect could lead to fractional frequency shifts as large as 10-16 and could prevent lattice-based optical clocks from reaching their predicted performance levels. Moreover, these effects could shift the magic wavelength in lattice clocks in three dimensions by as much as 100 MHz, depending on the lattice configuration.
magnetic dipole transitions, optical atomic clocks, optical frequency metrology, optical lattices
Citation
Taichenachev, A.
, Yudin, V.
, Ovsiannikov, V.
, Pal'chikov, V.
and Oates, C.
(2008),
Frequency Shifts in an Optical Lattice Clock Due to Magnetic Dipole and Electric-quadrupole Transitions, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=842569
(Accessed October 1, 2025)