Frequency stability of pulsed superradiant light from the strontium clock transition

ORAL

Abstract

Superradiant aser light from an ultra-narrow optical transition has been proposed as a next-generation active atomic frequency reference. In this work, we present the first characterization of the spectral properties of superradiant pulses of light emitted from the millihertz linewidth optical clock transition in an ensemble of cold $^{87}$Sr atoms trapped inside an optical cavity (Norcia et. al. arXiv:1711.10407). The frequency of the superradiant light is compared to that of a state-of-the-art cavity-stabilized laser and passive strontium optical lattice clock. We characterize the stability and absolute accuracy, as well as demonstrate insensitivity to key environmental perturbations such as fluctuations in the bare optical cavity frequency and magnetic field. The high degree of insensitivity to changes in the cavity length implies that mirror thermal noise will have a negligible impact on the superradiant light frequency, and that the system is a good frequency reference candidate for operation in harsh environments.

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Authors

  • Juan A. Muniz

    JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder

  • Matthew A. Norcia

    JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder

  • Julia R. K. Cline

    JILA, Univ of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder

  • John Robinson

    JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, NIST, JILA-University of Colorado, JILA Univ of Colorado - Boulder

  • Ross Hutson

    Univ of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, JILA Univ of Colorado - Boulder

  • Edward Marti

    Univ of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, NIST, JILA-University of Colorado, JILA Univ of Colorado - Boulder

  • Akihisa Goban

    JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder

  • Jun Ye

    JILA, NIST and University of Colorado, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, JILA, University of Colorado / NIST, JILA, NIST, and University of Colorado, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, NIST, JILA-University of Colorado, JILA Univ of Colorado - Boulder, University of Colorado, Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado Boulder

  • James K. Thompson

    JILA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado - Boulder, Univ of Colorado - Boulder, JILA, JILA, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder