Enregistré dans:
| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2026
|
| Sujets: | |
| Accès en ligne: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.00424 |
| Tags: |
Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
|
| _version_ | 1866911474608242688 |
|---|---|
| author | Wu, Siqi Zhang, Zhenqi Liu, Xingyue Zhu, Chuanshuai Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Zhiyu Liu, Hongli Yuan, Wenhao Liu, Xiaochi Wang, Pengfei Zhao, Feng Hrabina, Jan Zhang, Jie Lu, Zehuang Deng, Ke |
| author_facet | Wu, Siqi Zhang, Zhenqi Liu, Xingyue Zhu, Chuanshuai Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Zhiyu Liu, Hongli Yuan, Wenhao Liu, Xiaochi Wang, Pengfei Zhao, Feng Hrabina, Jan Zhang, Jie Lu, Zehuang Deng, Ke |
| contents | Compact optical clocks with high stability are essential for next-generation frequency standard field applications, from navigation to geodesy, yet existing vapor cell clock systems have remained confined to fractional instabilities over $10^{-15}$. Here we report the breaking of this long standing barrier by demonstrating a molecular iodine optical clock that reaches an instability of $6.6\times 10^{-16}$ and consistently operates at the $10^{-16}$ level throughout 100 s to 2000 s, surpassing all previous vapor-cell standards by nearly an order of magnitude. This achievement is enabled by a special design architecture that integrates a monolithic, drift immune spectroscopic unit bonded to an ultra low expansion glass substrate with active temperature control of key components. The whole system only occupies 25 L. The system achieves $5\times 10^{-15}$ instability at 1 s and sustains $10^{-16}$ level performance over hours, representing the first medium-term optical stability at this level from a compact, field ready package. Our work establishes that $10^{-16}$ fractional frequency instability can be engineered into robust, portable systems through holistic stability conscious design, opening a path towards high precision time keeping beyond the laboratory environment. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_00424 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A vapor-cell clock with fractional frequency reaching $10^{-16}$ level stability Wu, Siqi Zhang, Zhenqi Liu, Xingyue Zhu, Chuanshuai Wang, Zhiyuan Ma, Zhiyu Liu, Hongli Yuan, Wenhao Liu, Xiaochi Wang, Pengfei Zhao, Feng Hrabina, Jan Zhang, Jie Lu, Zehuang Deng, Ke Atomic Physics Compact optical clocks with high stability are essential for next-generation frequency standard field applications, from navigation to geodesy, yet existing vapor cell clock systems have remained confined to fractional instabilities over $10^{-15}$. Here we report the breaking of this long standing barrier by demonstrating a molecular iodine optical clock that reaches an instability of $6.6\times 10^{-16}$ and consistently operates at the $10^{-16}$ level throughout 100 s to 2000 s, surpassing all previous vapor-cell standards by nearly an order of magnitude. This achievement is enabled by a special design architecture that integrates a monolithic, drift immune spectroscopic unit bonded to an ultra low expansion glass substrate with active temperature control of key components. The whole system only occupies 25 L. The system achieves $5\times 10^{-15}$ instability at 1 s and sustains $10^{-16}$ level performance over hours, representing the first medium-term optical stability at this level from a compact, field ready package. Our work establishes that $10^{-16}$ fractional frequency instability can be engineered into robust, portable systems through holistic stability conscious design, opening a path towards high precision time keeping beyond the laboratory environment. |
| title | A vapor-cell clock with fractional frequency reaching $10^{-16}$ level stability |
| topic | Atomic Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.00424 |