Prospects for a Millihertz-Linewidth Laser

Abstract

We propose a new light source based on having alkaline-earth atoms in an optical lattice collectively emit photons on an ultranarrow clock transition into the mode of a high Q resonator. The resultant optical radiation has an extremely narrow linewidth in the mHz range, even smaller than that of the clock transition itself due to collective effects. A power level of order 10;{-12} W is possible, sufficient for phase locking a slave optical local oscillator. Realizing this light source has the potential to improve the stability of the best clocks by 2 orders of magnitude.