Tasks
The iqClock consortium will bring optical clocks closer to commercial products. We are pursuing this goal in four tasks, each advancing a particular optical clock technology several steps along the technology readiness level (TRL) scale.
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Task 1: Integrated optical lattice clock
Our industrial partners, guided by the University of Birmingham, will construct a compact, transportable Sr optical lattice clock. The targeted stability of the clock will be such that it would go wrong by only 1 second in 100 million years. We will demonstrate the use of this clock in a 'real-world' environment.
Postdoc positions are available in Birmingham on this task, see Open Positions.
Our industrial partners, guided by the University of Birmingham, will construct a compact, transportable Sr optical lattice clock. The targeted stability of the clock will be such that it would go wrong by only 1 second in 100 million years. We will demonstrate the use of this clock in a 'real-world' environment.
Postdoc positions are available in Birmingham on this task, see Open Positions.
Task 2: kHz-line superradiant clock
We will demonstrate that cavity-enhanced atom-light coupling can truly lead to more compact and robust clocks. Instead of determining the clock’s frequency by spectroscopy, we will make the atoms continuously lase on a forbidden and narrow (kHz wide) transition, producing light at the clock frequency directly. The underlying effect, superradiant emission of light into a cavity, was observed, but only in a pulsed manner. Here we will induce continuous emission and take advantage of the know-how obtained by Copenhagen University in other projects.
On this task experimental PhD and postdoc positions are available in Copenhagen and Amsterdam and theoretical positions in Vienna and Innsbruck, see Open Positions.
We will demonstrate that cavity-enhanced atom-light coupling can truly lead to more compact and robust clocks. Instead of determining the clock’s frequency by spectroscopy, we will make the atoms continuously lase on a forbidden and narrow (kHz wide) transition, producing light at the clock frequency directly. The underlying effect, superradiant emission of light into a cavity, was observed, but only in a pulsed manner. Here we will induce continuous emission and take advantage of the know-how obtained by Copenhagen University in other projects.
On this task experimental PhD and postdoc positions are available in Copenhagen and Amsterdam and theoretical positions in Vienna and Innsbruck, see Open Positions.
Task 3: mHz-line superradiant frequency standard
The full potential of superradiant clocks can only be realized by operating them continuously on a mHz-linewidth clock transition, which we will address in this task. Pulsed superradiant emission was recently observed, delivering Fourier broadened light. We plan to overcome the hurdles to continuous emission by combining a recent breakthrough of the Amsterdam partner with techniques that are currently being developed by the Torun partner. Our work will bring the idea of continuous superradiant lasing on a mHz transition to a lab demonstration. When perfected, superradiant mHz-line clocks can become frequency standards that are competitive with current optical lattice clocks, but are much more compact and robust.
On this task experimental PhD and postdoc positions are available in Torun and Amsterdam and theoretical positions in Vienna and Innsbruck, see Open Positions.
The full potential of superradiant clocks can only be realized by operating them continuously on a mHz-linewidth clock transition, which we will address in this task. Pulsed superradiant emission was recently observed, delivering Fourier broadened light. We plan to overcome the hurdles to continuous emission by combining a recent breakthrough of the Amsterdam partner with techniques that are currently being developed by the Torun partner. Our work will bring the idea of continuous superradiant lasing on a mHz transition to a lab demonstration. When perfected, superradiant mHz-line clocks can become frequency standards that are competitive with current optical lattice clocks, but are much more compact and robust.
On this task experimental PhD and postdoc positions are available in Torun and Amsterdam and theoretical positions in Vienna and Innsbruck, see Open Positions.
Task 4: superradiant laser foundations
We will explore the foundations of superradiant lasers, the behavior of an ensemble of atoms coupled to a cavity. To reach high accuracy, disturbances from interactions need to be understood, which leads us to study many-body effects in driven-interacting systems, a hot topic in quantum many-body physics. Further intriguing effects, such as cavity-cooling to quantum degeneracy, will be pursued out of curiosity since history shows that novel useful techniques and applications can be born from fundamental studies.
On this task experimental PhD and postdoc positions are available in Amsterdam and theoretical positions in Vienna and Innsbruck, see Open Positions.
We will explore the foundations of superradiant lasers, the behavior of an ensemble of atoms coupled to a cavity. To reach high accuracy, disturbances from interactions need to be understood, which leads us to study many-body effects in driven-interacting systems, a hot topic in quantum many-body physics. Further intriguing effects, such as cavity-cooling to quantum degeneracy, will be pursued out of curiosity since history shows that novel useful techniques and applications can be born from fundamental studies.
On this task experimental PhD and postdoc positions are available in Amsterdam and theoretical positions in Vienna and Innsbruck, see Open Positions.
