Project Details
Transportable cryostat for optical frequency references
Subject Area
Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Term
Funded in 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 440144856
Our group has done pioneering work in the field of cryogenic macroscopic frequency references. This includes ensembles of atoms embedded in a crystal as well as optical resonators. The previous work has been funded by several third-party projects in recent years. We want to further develop these research lines. Specifically, we have the following goals:- Further development of ultra-stable cryogenic optical resonators made of silicon and other materials for frequency stabilization of lasers.- Development of frequency references based on europium-doped crystals.- Use of the clock laser stabilized on a cryogenic resonator at our high-precision optical neutral atom clock. This is transportable. Afterwards, we will set it up in cooperation with partners at two external locations and carry out measurements. The cryostat applied for here with the contained resonator serves to improve the performance of the optical atomic clock. The first cooperation is about the further development of a new technology, relativistic (clock-based) geodesy. The second cooperation involves a contribution to ESA's "ACES" mission, which will be launched on schedule in 2020 to the International Space Station (ISS) and operated there for several years. Our atomic clock, operated at the Wettzell Fundamental Station, will enable the measurement of time dilation in the gravitational field and the testing of new satellite-based time and frequency measurement techniques.- Investigating the feasibility of testing the Lorentz invariance with higher accuracy than before, and performing the same. Such tests have been performed in the past with cryogenic resonators as well as with room temperature resonators. The cryostat applied for opens up the potential of advancing to a new level of precision. - Feasibility study of detectors for dark matter based on frequency references or fluorescence centers. Concepts for "matter-filled" resonators will also be tested. - Improved tests for the existence of quantum mechanical fluctuations of space Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator.
DFG Programme
Major Research Instrumentation
Major Instrumentation
Transportabler Kryostat für optische Frequenzreferenzen
Instrumentation Group
8550 Spezielle Kryostaten (für tiefste Temperaturen)
Applicant Institution
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf