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Published Online March 6, 2008
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1154622

Reports

Submitted on December 26, 2007
Accepted on February 20, 2008

Frequency Ratio of Al+ and Hg+ Single-Ion Optical Clocks; Metrology at the 17th Decimal Place

T. Rosenband 1*, D. B. Hume 1, P. O. Schmidt 2, C. W. Chou 1, A. Brusch 1, L. Lorini 3, W. H. Oskay 4, R. E. Drullinger 1, T. M. Fortier 1, J. E. Stalnaker 5, S. A. Diddams 1, W. C. Swann 1, N. R. Newbury 1, W. M. Itano 1, D. J. Wineland 1, J. C. Bergquist 1

1 National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
2 National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.; Present address: Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Innsbruck, Austria.
3 National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.; Present address: Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM), Torino, Italy.
4 National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.; Present address: Stanford Research Systems, Sunnyvale, CA, USA.
5 National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.; Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
T. Rosenband , E-mail: trosen{at}boulder.nist.gov

Time has always had a special status in physics because of its fundamental role in specifying the regularities of nature and because of the extraordinary precision with which it can be measured. This precision enables tests of fundamental physics and cosmology, as well as practical applications such as satellite navigation. Recently, a regime of operation for atomic clocks based on optical transitions has become possible, promising even higher performance. We report the frequency ratio of two optical atomic clocks with a fractional uncertainty of 5.2 x 10-17. The ratio of aluminum and mercury single-ion optical clock frequencies {nu}Al+/{nu}Hg+ is 1.052871833148990438(55), where the uncertainty comprises a statistical measurement uncertainty of 4.3 x 10-17, and systematic uncertainties of 1.9 x 10-17 and 2.3 x 10-17 in the mercury and aluminum frequency standards, respectively. Repeated measurements during the past year yield a preliminary constraint on the temporal variation of the fine-structure constant {alpha} of {alpha}/{alpha} = (–1.6 ± 2.3) x    10-17/year.


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