Micromagic clock: microwave clock based on atoms in an engineered optical lattice

Abstract

We propose a new class of atomic microwave clocks based on the hyperfine transitions in the ground state of aluminum or gallium atoms trapped in optical lattices. For these elements magic wavelengths exist at which both levels of the hyperfine doublet are shifted at the same rate by the lattice laser field, cancelling its effect on the clock transition. Our analysis of various systematic effects shows that, while offering an improved control over systematic errors, the accuracy of the proposed microwave clock is competitive to that of the state-of-the-art primary frequency standard.