Carrier thermometry of cold ytterbium atoms in an optical lattice clock

The ultracold atomic gas serving as the quantum reference is a key part of an optical lattice clock, and the temperature of atoms in the optical lattice affects the uncertainty and instability of the optical lattice clocks. Since the carrier spectrum of the clock transition in the lattices reflects the thermal dynamics of cold atoms, the temperature of atoms can be extracted from the carrier spectrum in a non-magic wavelength lattice of ytterbium optical clocks. Furthermore, the temperatures obtained from the carrier spectra are in good agreement with the results obtained by the time-of-flight method and thermometry based on the sideband spectrum. In addition, the heating effects caused by the lattice laser are studied on the basis of the sample temperatures.