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Zero-Dead-Time Strontium Lattice Clock with a Stability at 10−19 Level

Xiao-Yong Liu1,2,*, Peng Liu2,3,*, Jie Li1,2,*, Yu-Chen Zhang1,2, Yuan-Bo Wang1,2, Zhi-Peng Jia1,2, Xiang Zhang1,2, Xian-Qing Zhu1,2, De-Quan Kong1,2 et al.

Wen-Lan Song1,2, Guo-Zhen Niu2,3, Yu-Meng Yang2,3, Pei-Jun Feng2,3, Xiang-Pei Liu1,2,3, Xing-Yang Cui2,3, Ping Xu1,2,3, Xiao Jiang1,2,3, Juan Yin1,2,3, Sheng-Kai Liao1,2,3, Cheng-Zhi Peng1,2,3, Han-Ning Dai1,2,3,†, Yu-Ao Chen1,2,3,4,‡, and Jian-Wei Pan1,2,3,§

  • 1Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
  • 2Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai 201315, China
  • 3Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230088, China
  • 4New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, School of Emergent Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: daihan@ustc.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: yuaochen@ustc.edu.cn
  • §Contact author: pan@ustc.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 263402 – Published 23 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zbpb-6qxb

Abstract

Optical atomic clocks play a crucial role in fundamental physics, relativistic geodesy, and the future redefinition of the Systeme International second. Standard operation relies on cyclic interrogation sequences, which alternate between atomic interrogation and dead time used for state preparation and readout. This approach introduces the Dick effect, where laser frequency noise aliases onto the atomic transition frequency. Although reducing laser noise improves clock stability, the Dick effect remains a key limitation. In this Letter, we demonstrate a zero-dead-time optical clock based on two interleaved ensembles of cold Sr87 atoms. Our system significantly suppresses this noise and achieves a fractional frequency instability at the 10−19 level between 10 000 and 20 000 s over repeated measurements, with a best value of 2.9×10−19 at τ=20000  s. The estimated long-term stability based on the combined data of these measurements reaches 2.5×10−19 at 1 day. These results represent a more than ninefold improvement over a conventional single-ensemble clock, highlighting its potential for next-generation timekeeping applications.

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