Optical system for a strontium optical lattice clock aboard the Chinese Space Station
We report the design and in-orbit demonstration of a compact optical system for a 87Sr optical lattice clock aboard the Chinese Space Station. This system adopts a compact and robust vertically stacked architecture with a total volume of 0.11 m3 and a mass of 53.6 kg. It passed thermal and vibration qualification tests and remained fully operational after launch. In orbit, it achieved automated multi-stage laser stabilization and a blue magneto-optical trap for 87Sr atoms. This marks a significant step toward operational optical clocks in space.
Authors
- Hongxin Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4172-5214)
- Junwei Meng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1606-7088)
- Dejing He
- Jie Ren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7061-1881)
- Yongzhuang Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4296-0726)
- Hong Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7806-9698)
- Benquan Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3371-0573)
- W. Q. Wang
- Yun Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8536-9143)
- Feng Guo
- Min Feng
- X. Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4200-4250)
- Yong Shen
- Wei Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1319-0927)
- Jian Fei Xia
- Chihua Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3113-1367)
- Guodong Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0920-1393)
- Yebing Wang
- Ting Liang
Institutions
- National University of Defense Technology (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- National Time Service Center (CN)
- National Space Science Center (CN)
- Astronomy and Space (AU)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Review of Scientific Instruments
- Published
- 2025-09-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0282958
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Frequency and Time Standards
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00