Missions

The applicant (M/F) will be in charge of developing the Physics package of a transportable Ytterbium lattice clock newly under construction at SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris. The clock will be attached to the large scale infrastructure REFIMEVE+ (optical fiber network disseminating an ultrastable reference at 1542 nm), in order to enable remote frequency comparisons with the ~12 stationary European optical clocks. Given the sensitivity of atomic clocks to the local gravitational potential, these measurements will notably result in a cartography of the Earth potential with an unprecedented resolution.

Activités

The applicant (M/F) will take charge of the design of an ultra-high vacuum system (residual pressure<1×10-10 mbar) enabling the magneto-optical trapping of neutral ytterbium at 399 nm and 556 nm. He/she will make the configuration compatible with the lattice trapping at 759 nm in order to reach the Lamb-Dicke regime. He/she will design a time sequence allowing the capture of >1e4 atoms in less than 100 ms, while reaching temperatures close to 1 µK in the longitudinal direction. Finally he/she will supervise the programming aspects in order to manage the sequence with reliability and agility.

Compétences

The candidate must have a doctorate in experimental atomic physics. A strong interest in experimental work is necessary, and skills in ultrahigh vacuum systems, continuous lasers, in electronics and in Python programming are mandatory. A knowledge in ultrastable Fabry-Perot cavities will be considered as an asset.

Contexte de travail

The Ytterbium teams is composed of 6 people, and the post-doctoral researcher must have good skills in supervising as he/she will notably assist the management of the PhD thesis projects.
The new atomic clock will benefit from the expertise accumulated at SYRTE during the development of the three stationary optical clocks (based on strontium and mercury). A good team spirit, and an advanced level in English are therefore absolutely mandatory.
The project is funded by ANR (Agence Nationale pour la Recherche) and CNES (Centre national d'études spatiales). The initial contract is 12 months and can be extended.