An Optical Lattice Clock with Accuracy and Stability at the $10^{-18}$ Level

Understand

The exquisite control exhibited over quantum states of individual particles has revolutionized the field of precision measurement, as exemplified by the most accurate atomic clock realized in single trapped ions.

• Whereas many-atom lattice clocks have shown advantages in measurement precision over trapped-ion clocks, their accuracy has remained 20 times worse.
• Here we demonstrate, for the first time, that a many-atom system achieves accuracy (6x10^{-18}) better than a single ion-based clock, with vastly reduced averaging times (3000 s).
• This is the first time a single clock has achieved the best performance in all three key ingredients necessary for consideration as a primary standard - stability, reproducibility, and accuracy.