Progress toward a spin squeezed optical atomic clock beyond the standard quantum limit

Date
May 9, 2016, 4:00 pm4:00 pm
Location
Engineering Quadrangle, B205

Speaker

Details

Event Description

State of the art optical lattice atomic clocks have reached a relative inaccuracy level of order $10^{-18}$, making them the most stable time references in existence. One of the limitations to the precision of these clocks is the quantum projection noise caused by the measurement of the atomic state. This limit, known as the standard quantum limit (SQL), can be overcome by entangling the atoms. By performing spin squeezing, it is possible to robustly generate such entanglement and therefore surpass the SQL of precision in optical atomic clocks. I will report on recent experimental progress toward realizing spin squeezing in an ${}^{171}$Yb optical lattice clock. A high-finesse micromirror-based optical cavity operating in the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics will mediate the atom-atom interaction necessary for generating the entanglement. By exceeding the SQL in this state of the art system, we are aiming to advance precision time metrology and expand the boundaries of quantum control and measurement.