Team

Optical frequency metrology

Scientific activity

Current research topics include

• Ultra-precise optical clocks: study of the physics of optical lattice clocks enabling extreme accuracies (10-18 or less). Quantum non-desctructive measurements and compressed states to improve stability beyond the standard quantum limit.
• Ultra-stable lasers using burnt holes in crystalline arrays (spectral hole burning) and study of opto-mechanical coupling of burnt holes, with applications to sensors. In general, ultra-stable lasers and spectral purity transfer are essential for reaching the quantum limit of optical clocks.
• Applications, exploitation and transfer to industry of clocks as sensors and optical frequency metrology. Development of methods and systems to exploit optical clocks as sensors for time, gravitational potential or fundamental physics: coherent or free-space fibered optical links, transportable, spatializable, industrializable systems for optical frequency metrology.

Figure: Magneto-optical trap in a strontium optical lattice clock. About 106 cold atoms are observed at a few mK.