Title :
Progress at NIST toward absolute frequency standards using stored ions
Author :
Wineland, D.J. ; Bergquist, J.C. ; Bollinger, J.J. ; Itano, W.M. ; Heinzen, D.J. ; Gilbert, S.L. ; Manney, C.H. ; Weimer, C.S.
Author_Institution :
US Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Boulder, CO, USA
fDate :
May 31 1989-June 2 1989
Abstract :
Experiments at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology to realize frequency standards of high accuracy using stored ions are briefly summarized. In one experiment, an RF oscillator is locked to a nuclear spin-flip hyperfine transition (frequency approximately=3.03*10/sup 8/ Hz) in /sup 9/Be/sup +/ ions which are stored in a Penning trap and sympathetically laser-cooled. Stability is better than 3*10/sup -12/ tau /sup -12/ and uncertainty in Doppler shifts is estimated to be less than 5*10/sup -15/. In a second experiment, a stable laser is used to probe an electric quadrupole transition (frequency approximately=1.07*10/sup 15/ Hz) in a single laser-cooled /sup 199/Hg/sup +/ ion stored in a Paul trap. The measured Q value of this transition is approximately 10/sup 13/. Possible future experiments are also discussed.<>
Keywords :
Doppler effect; atomic clocks; frequency measurement; ion optics; measurement standards; time measurement; /sup 199/Hg/sup +/ ion; /sup 9/Be/sup +/ ions; Doppler shifts; NBS; NIST; Paul trap; Penning trap; RF oscillator; US National Institute of Standards and Technology; absolute frequency standards; electric quadrupole transition; nuclear spin-flip hyperfine transition; stable laser; stored ions; sympathetically laser-cooled; Doppler shift; Laser stability; Laser transitions; Mercury (metals); NIST; Oscillators; Probes; Radio frequency; Resonant frequency; Uncertainty;
Conference_Titel :
Frequency Control, 1989., Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Denver, CO, USA
DOI :
10.1109/FREQ.1989.68849
