Quantum projection noise limited stability of a 88Sr+ atomic clock

The evaluated accuracy of a single trapped 88Sr+ ion clock referenced to the 5s2 S 1/2 - 4d 2 D 5/2 transition at 445 THz at the National Research Council of Canada has reached 1.2 x 10-17 over recent years. On the other hand, the stability of an atomic clock determines how long the signals from two similar clocks have to be compared to reach a given level of uncertainty. Here, we report on the improvement of the stability of NRC's 88Sr+ single ion clock by reducing the Allan deviation from 1 x 10-14 to 3 x 10-15 at 1 second averaging time. This is done by the implementation of a clear out laser that transfers the ion from the metastable state to the ground state at each cycle, followed by a state-preparation step that transfers the ion to the desired ground state magnetic sublevel of the probed transition.