Collisional shifts in an optical-lattice atomic clock

The effects of elastic collisions in optical-lattice atomic clocks are analyzed. Calculations are presented using a separated oscillatory fields clock arrangement. The interactions of atoms in multiply occupied lattice sites cause a linear frequency shift, and also generate asymmetric Ramsey fringe patterns, both complicate the determination of the resonance frequency and reduce the fringe visibility due to interparticle entanglement. A method of reducing these collisional effects in an optical lattice clock containing bosonic atoms by introducing a phase difference of π between the Ramsey driving fields in adjacent sites is developed. This configuration suppresses site-to-site hopping due to the interference of two tunneling pathways, without degrading the fringe visibility. The probability of double occupancy is, thereby, reduced and collisional shifts are, thus, ameliorated.