Search

The self-comparison method is a powerful tool in the uncertainty evaluation of optical lattice clocks, but any drifts will cause a frequency offset between the two compared clock loops and thus lead to incorrect measurement result. We propose a drift-insensitive self-comparison method to remove this frequency offset by adjusting the clock detection sequence. We also experimentally demonstrate the validity of this method in a one-dimensional 87Sr optical lattice clock. As the clock laser frequency drift exists, the measured frequency difference between two identical clock loops is (240 ± 34) mHz using the traditional self-comparison method, while it is (−15 ± 16) mHz using the drift-insensitive self-comparison method, indicating that this frequency offset is cancelled within current measurement precision. We further use the drift-insensitive self-comparison technique to measure the collisional shift and the second-order Zeeman shift of our clock and the results show that the fractional collisional shift and the second-order Zeeman shift are 4.54(28) × 10−16 and 5.06(3) × 10−17, respectively.

We review recent experimental progress concerning the 87Sr optical lattice clock at the National Time Service Center in China. Hertz-level spectroscopy of the 87Sr clock transition for the optical lattice clock was performed, and closed-loop operation of the optical lattice clock was realized. A fractional frequency instability of 2.8 × 10−17 was attained for an averaging time of 2000 s. The Allan deviation is found to be 1.6 × 10−15/τ1/2 and is limited mainly by white-frequency-noise. The Landé g-factors of the (5s2)1S0 and (5s5p)3P0 states in 87Sr were measured experimentally; they are important for evaluating the clock’s Zeeman shifts. We also present recent work on the miniaturization of the strontium optical lattice clock for space applications.