The pursuit of ever more precise measures of time and frequency is likely to lead to the eventual redefinition of the second in terms of an optical atomic transition. To ensure continuity with the current definition, based on a microwave transition between hyperfine levels in ground-state 133 Cs, it is necessary to measure the absolute frequency of candidate standards, which is done by comparing against a primary cesium reference. A key verification of this process can be achieved by performing a loop closure-comparing frequency ratios derived from absolute frequency measurements against ratios determined from direct optical comparisons. We measure the 1 S 0 → 3 P 0 transition of 171 Yb by comparing the clock frequency to an international frequency standard with the aid of a maser ensemble serving as a flywheel oscillator. Our measurements consist of 79 separate runs spanning eight months, and we determine the absolute frequency to be 518 295 836 590 863.71(11) Hz, the uncertainty of which is equivalent to a fractional frequency of 2.1 × 10 −16 .This absolute frequency measurement, the most accurate reported for any transition, allows us to close the Cs-Yb-Sr-Cs frequency measurement loop at an uncertainty of <3×10 −16 , limited by the current realization of the SI second. We use these measurements to tighten the constraints on variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio, µ = m e /m p . Incorporating our measurements with the entire record of Yb and Sr absolute frequency measurements, we infer a coupling coefficient to gravitational potential of k µ = (−1.9 ± 9.4) × 10 −7 and a drift with respect to time oḟ µ µ = (5.3 ± 6.5) × 10 −17 /yr. arXiv:1811.05885v1 [physics.atom-ph]

Optical clocks benefit from tight atomic confinement enabling extended interrogation times as well as Doppler- and recoil-free operation. However, these benefits come at the cost of frequency shifts that, if not properly controlled, may degrade clock accuracy. Numerous theoretical studies have predicted optical lattice clock frequency shifts that scale nonlinearly with trap depth. To experimentally observe and constrain these shifts in an ^{171}Yb optical lattice clock, we construct a lattice enhancement cavity that exaggerates the light shifts. We observe an atomic temperature that is proportional to the optical trap depth, fundamentally altering the scaling of trap-induced light shifts and simplifying their parametrization. We identify an "operational" magic wavelength where frequency shifts are insensitive to changes in trap depth. These measurements and scaling analysis constitute an essential systematic characterization for clock operation at the 10^{-18} level and beyond.

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Optical atomic clocks are poised to redefine the Système International (SI) second, thanks to stability and accuracy more than 100 times better than the current microwave atomic clock standard. However, the best optical clocks have not seen their performance transferred to the electronic domain, where radar, navigation, communications, and fundamental research rely on less stable microwave sources. By comparing two independent optical-to-electronic signal generators, we demonstrate a 10-gigahertz microwave signal with phase that exactly tracks that of the optical clock phase from which it is derived, yielding an absolute fractional frequency instability of 1 × 10−18 in the electronic domain. Such faithful reproduction of the optical clock phase expands the opportunities for optical clocks both technologically and scientifically for time dissemination, navigation, and long-baseline interferometric imaging.

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We demonstrate a time scale based on a phase stable optical carrier that accumulates an estimated time error of 48 ± 94 ps over 34 days of operation. This all-optical time scale is formed with a cryogenic silicon cavity exhibiting improved long-term stability and an accurate 87 Sr lattice clock. We show that this new time scale architecture outperforms existing microwave time scales, even when they are steered to optical frequency standards. Our analysis indicates that this time scale is capable of reaching a stability below 1 × 10 −17 after a few months of averaging, making timekeeping at the 10 −18 level a realistic prospect. arXiv:1907.03184v1 [physics.atom-ph]

We demonstrate an easy to manufacture, 25 mm long ultra-stable optical reference cavity for transportable photonic microwave generation systems. Employing a rigid holding geometry that is first-order insensitive to the squeezing force and a cavity geometry that improves the thermal noise limit at room temperature, we observe a laser phase noise that is nearly thermal noise limited for three frequency decades (1 Hz to 1 kHz offset) and supports 10 GHz generation with phase noise near -100 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz offset and <-173 dBc/Hz for all offsets > 600 Hz. The fractional frequency stability reaches 2 × 10 −15 at 0.1 s of averaging.

We explore a photonic-integrated-circuit platform that implements optical-frequency measurements and timekeeping with a perspective towards next-generation portable and space-borne frequency references and optical-clock networks. The stoichiometric-silicon-nitride waveguides we create provide an efficient and low-noise medium for nonlinear spectral broadening and supercontinuum generation with fiber-based optical frequency combs. In particular, we demonstrate detailed control over supercontinuum emission to target specific atomic-transition wavelengths and perform the first optical-clock comparison using on-chip supercontinuum sources. We report a clock-limited relative frequency instability of 3.8 × 10 −15 at τ = 2 seconds between a 1550 nm cavity-stabilized reference laser and NIST's calcium atomic-clock laser at 657 nm using a two-octave waveguide-supercontinuum frequency comb.