Physical Review Research (Sep 2020)
Optical atomic clock comparison through turbulent air
- Martha I. Bodine,
- Jean-Daniel Deschênes,
- Isaac H. Khader,
- William C. Swann,
- Holly Leopardi,
- Kyle Beloy,
- Tobias Bothwell,
- Samuel M. Brewer,
- Sarah L. Bromley,
- Jwo-Sy Chen,
- Scott A. Diddams,
- Robert J. Fasano,
- Tara M. Fortier,
- Youssef S. Hassan,
- David B. Hume,
- Dhruv Kedar,
- Colin J. Kennedy,
- Amanda Koepke,
- David R. Leibrandt,
- Andrew D. Ludlow,
- William F. McGrew,
- William R. Milner,
- Daniele Nicolodi,
- Eric Oelker,
- Thomas E. Parker,
- John M. Robinson,
- Stefania Romish,
- Stefan A. Schäffer,
- Jeffrey A. Sherman,
- Lindsay Sonderhouse,
- Jian Yao,
- Jun Ye,
- Xiaogang Zhang,
- Nathan R. Newbury,
- Laura C. Sinclair
Affiliations
- Martha I. Bodine
- Jean-Daniel Deschênes
- Isaac H. Khader
- William C. Swann
- Holly Leopardi
- Kyle Beloy
- Tobias Bothwell
- Samuel M. Brewer
- Sarah L. Bromley
- Jwo-Sy Chen
- Scott A. Diddams
- Robert J. Fasano
- Tara M. Fortier
- Youssef S. Hassan
- David B. Hume
- Dhruv Kedar
- Colin J. Kennedy
- Amanda Koepke
- David R. Leibrandt
- Andrew D. Ludlow
- William F. McGrew
- William R. Milner
- Daniele Nicolodi
- Eric Oelker
- Thomas E. Parker
- John M. Robinson
- Stefania Romish
- Stefan A. Schäffer
- Jeffrey A. Sherman
- Lindsay Sonderhouse
- Jian Yao
- Jun Ye
- Xiaogang Zhang
- Nathan R. Newbury
- Laura C. Sinclair
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033395
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 2,
no. 3
p. 033395
Abstract
We use frequency-comb-based optical two-way time-frequency transfer (O-TWTFT) to measure the optical frequency ratio of state-of-the-art ytterbium and strontium optical atomic clocks separated by a 1.5-km open-air link. Our free-space measurement is compared to a simultaneous measurement acquired via a noise-cancelled fiber link. Despite nonstationary, ps-level time-of-flight variations in the free-space link, ratio measurements obtained from the two links, averaged over 30.5 hours across six days, agree to 6×10^{−19}, showing that O-TWTFT can support free-space atomic clock comparisons below the 10^{−18} level.
