Quantum Optics Seminar by Anne E. Curtis, NPL London

Optical frequency standards and technology applications at NPL

 This talk will introduce you to the UK’s most accurate atomic clock – the ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ ion optical clock at the National Physical Laboratory, the UK’s national metrology institute. I will explain how optical clocks work and describe the international effort to test optical clock performance in order to support a redefinition of the SI second. Additionally, I will show how the combination of sensitivity and high accuracy of optical clocks allows us to use them as “sensors” to perform tests of fundamental physics. Finally, I will describe how some of the techniques developed for frequency metrology have been applied at NPL in the area of gas sensing relevant across multiple sectors, with specific examples in frequency modulation spectroscopy (including NICE-OHMS), and laser stabilisation using gas-filled hollow core fibres.