Demonstration of a Mercury Trapped Ion Clock Prototype

In this work, we report a prototype of micro mercury trapped ion atomic clock. All the clock components have been packaged and demonstrated in a magnetic shield box of 4 liters. The prototype clock shows promising performance with a short-term fractional frequency instability below 10
⁻¹¹
τ
⁻¹²
and can reach the 10
⁻¹⁴
-instability level after a day of averaging. The prototype clock is capable of reaching the10
⁻¹⁵
-fractional frequency instability range. Our demonstration of the integrated clock prototype paves the way for further SWaP reduction and maturation.