Ytterbium lattice clock with systematic uncertainty of 1.3× 10−18 and instability at the 10−19 level
Abstract
We report an optical lattice clock based on 171Yb atoms with a total systematic uncertainty of 1.3× 10−18. An in-vacuum buildup cavity was employed to enhance the lattice light power. Differential frequency measurement between two identical clocks facilitates the evaluation of systematic shifts. Synchronous comparison of the two clocks reached a stability level of 2.7× 10−19 in an averaging time of 216,000~s. The blackbody radiation (BBR) shield which is placed in vacuum provides a well-characterized BBR environment, enabling an uncertainty contribution of 8.7× 10−19 from the BBR Stark shift. Lattice light shifts were measured at different lattice depths U, and fitted with a fourth-order polynomial of U. The zero-linear-shift frequency νzero was determined to be 394 798 260.6(3) MHz. The lattice light shift can be controlled at an uncertainty level of 6.3× 10−19 under typical operating conditions. Other systematic shifts have also been evaluated. The two clocks will be used for remote frequency comparisons between Shanghai and Wuhan.
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BibTeX
@misc{zhu2026ytterbium,
title = {{Ytterbium lattice clock with systematic uncertainty of $1.3\times 10^-18$ and instability at the $10^-19$ level}},
author = {Qiang Zhu and Jingran Shi and Yuechen Zhang and Xiatian Xu and Bing Wang and Dezhi Xiong and Zhuanxian Xiong and Pengcheng Fang and Qunfeng Chen and Lingxiang He and Baolong Lyu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.10514},
eprint = {2606.10514},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.10514},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Ytterbium lattice clock with systematic uncertainty of 1.3× 10^−18 and instability at the 10^−19 level
AU - Qiang Zhu
AU - Jingran Shi
AU - Yuechen Zhang
AU - Xiatian Xu
AU - Bing Wang
AU - Dezhi Xiong
AU - Zhuanxian Xiong
AU - Pengcheng Fang
AU - Qunfeng Chen
AU - Lingxiang He
AU - Baolong Lyu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/20
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.10514
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.10514
AB - We report an optical lattice clock based on ^171Yb atoms with a total systematic uncertainty of 1.3× 10^−18. An in-vacuum buildup cavity was employed to enhance the lattice light power. Differential frequency measurement between two identical clocks facilitates the evaluation of systematic shifts. Synchronous comparison of the two clocks reached a stability level of 2.7× 10^−19 in an averaging time of 216,000~s. The blackbody radiation (BBR) shield which is placed in vacuum provides a well-characterized BBR environment, enabling an uncertainty contribution of 8.7× 10^−19 from the BBR Stark shift. Lattice light shifts were measured at different lattice depths U, and fitted with a fourth-order polynomial of U. The zero-linear-shift frequency ν_zero was determined to be 394 798 260.6(3) MHz. The lattice light shift can be controlled at an uncertainty level of 6.3× 10^−19 under typical operating conditions. Other systematic shifts have also been evaluated. The two clocks will be used for remote frequency comparisons between Shanghai and Wuhan.
ER -