Position at Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM)
Objectives:
1) Operating a hybrid cavity lattice clock with high-accuracy
The hybrid cavity lattice clock is a platform where an optical clock is integrated with a collective strong-coupling cavity QED for quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement. It has recently emerged as a promising platform to perform fast and low-noise readout of the collective state of the atomic frequency discriminator for optical frequency metrology. Within the Q-Clocks and the USOQS projects, we have constructed a cavity-enhanced optical lattice clock based on Sr atoms where the high-cooperativity linear cavity is superimposed to a magic wavelength bow-tie cavity for homogeneous atom-cavity coupling. Task 1: The DC will develop this new trapping topology, detection systems, and cavity-atom interaction characterization at a metrologically relevant level for this platform.
2) Generation and study of collective atomic entangled states for optical clocks
The interplay between a quantized photonic field and collective atomic states can be engineered to investigate and study new methods to progress optical clocks beyond their classical limits. In particular, cavity-coupled atomic ensembles can be measured by the detection of the quantum state of the cavity field, while quantum backaction ensures the creation of quantum-correlated collective states with uncertainty lower than the classical (shot-noise) limit, i.e. spin squeezed states. Protocols based on continuous cavity measurements have been already devised, similar to those of CNRS (LTE) and ICFO, for the generation of spin-squeezed states. Task 2: The DC will attempt to achieve spin-squeezed states by QND measurements and by synthetic cavity-induced interactions and devise clock protocols to surpass the QPN instability limit.
1) Operating a hybrid cavity lattice clock with high-accuracy
The hybrid cavity lattice clock is a platform where an optical clock is integrated with a collective strong-coupling cavity QED for quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement. It has recently emerged as a promising platform to perform fast and low-noise readout of the collective state of the atomic frequency discriminator for optical frequency metrology. Within the Q-Clocks and the USOQS projects, we have constructed a cavity-enhanced optical lattice clock based on Sr atoms where the high-cooperativity linear cavity is superimposed to a magic wavelength bow-tie cavity for homogeneous atom-cavity coupling. Task 1: The DC will develop this new trapping topology, detection systems, and cavity-atom interaction characterization at a metrologically relevant level for this platform.
2) Generation and study of collective atomic entangled states for optical clocks
The interplay between a quantized photonic field and collective atomic states can be engineered to investigate and study new methods to progress optical clocks beyond their classical limits. In particular, cavity-coupled atomic ensembles can be measured by the detection of the quantum state of the cavity field, while quantum backaction ensures the creation of quantum-correlated collective states with uncertainty lower than the classical (shot-noise) limit, i.e. spin squeezed states. Protocols based on continuous cavity measurements have been already devised, similar to those of CNRS (LTE) and ICFO, for the generation of spin-squeezed states. Task 2: The DC will attempt to achieve spin-squeezed states by QND measurements and by synthetic cavity-induced interactions and devise clock protocols to surpass the QPN instability limit.
