Early Career Conference in Trapped Ions (ECCTI) 2026, Oxford

Session

Clocks and Precision Spectroscopy

9 Sept 2026, 13:30

62. Towards a network of 43Ca+ optical clocks for entanglement-enhanced metrology

Ayush Agrawal (Department of Physics, University of Oxford)

09/09/2026, 13:30

Atomic Clocks

Long Talk (20min)

Over the past few decades, advancements in optical atomic clocks have enabled measurements of time and frequency with unprecedented stability and systematic uncertainty [1,2]. Precision frequency comparisons between macroscopically separated clocks have applications in geodesy [3], probing variations in fundamental constants, and in dark matter searches [4]. Frequency comparisons between...

76. Sensing thermal motion of single ions with structured light.

Muriel Bonetto (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

09/09/2026, 13:55

Precision Spectroscopy

Long Talk (20min)

We present results showing that using LG beams allows sensing temperature in the direction perpendicular to the propagation of the beam and with increased sensitivity with respect to plane waves. We use two counterrotating and copropagating vortex laser beams, which isolates the azimuthal gradients of the fields, eliminating longitudinal and curvature effects. By performing Coherent Population...

102. Three Body Quantum Scattering in a Hybrid Atom-Ion System

Patrick Mullan (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)

09/09/2026, 14:20

Precision Spectroscopy

Short Talk (15min)

We investigate quantum atom-ion scattering in the s-wave regime using a hybrid system comprising a single ${}^{138}\text{Ba}^{+}$ ion trapped in a linear Paul trap and a near-degenerate ${}^6\text{Li}$ Fermi gas confined in a crossed optical dipole trap. The ion is positioned within the Fermi gas and will undergo collisions. Inelastic collisions are directly related to formation of molecular...

115. Measurements of the bound-electron $g$ factor in highly charged ions: testing fundamental physics

Max Anton Gramberg (Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (DE))

09/09/2026, 14:40

Precision Spectroscopy

Short Talk (15min)

The $g$ factor of the bound electron in few-electron highly charged ions is a highly sensitive probe for new physics and its measurement allows to test the predictions of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in the extremely strong electric field of the nucleus. Studying these simple atomic systems allows to examine bound-state (BS-) QED and even nuclear effects to high accuracy. ALPHATRAP [1] is a...

74. A transportable Al+ quantum logic optical clock

Joost Hinrichs (Leibniz University Hannover & Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt)

11/09/2026, 09:30

Atomic Clocks

Short Talk (15min)

Optical atomic clocks are the most precise measurement tools, achieving fractional frequency uncertainties below $10^{−18}$. Transportable systems can extend this accuracy to a broader range of applications. High-precision frequency ratio measurements are essential to validate clock accuracy and ensure consistency across platforms – a key requirement towards the redefinition of the SI second....

101. Development of a Second ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ Ion Optical Clock at NPL Towards the Redefinition of the SI Second

Thilina Senaviratne (National Physical Laboratory)

11/09/2026, 09:50

Atomic Clocks

Short Talk (15min)

Optical frequency standards now surpass caesium frequency standards in accuracy and stability, forming the motivation for the future redefinition of the SI second [1]. Key requirements for the redefinition are the validation of uncertainty budgets at the level of ≲ 2 × 10⁻¹⁸ and agreement between independent optical frequency ratios at uncertainty ≲ 5 × 10⁻¹⁸. The ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ optical clock at the...

108. A Penning trap single-photon counter for axion detection

Marko Wojtkowiak (Imperial college London)

11/09/2026, 10:10

Atomic Clocks

Short Talk (15min)

The Quantum enhanced particle astrophysics (QuEPA) project attempts to use an electron Penning trap as one part of a detector for axion dark matter [1]. Axions emerged as a dark matter candidate after initially being proposed to resolve the observed lack of charge parity (CP) violation in the strong interaction. Axions can convert into microwave photons in the presence of a strong magnetic...

34. Implementation of a Josephson Voltage Standard for the First Direct Measurement of the Nuclear Magnetic Moment of $^{3}$He$^{2+}$

Mr Felix Grüner (MPI Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany)

11/09/2026, 10:30

Precision Spectroscopy

Short Talk (15min)

The first direct high-precision measurement of the magnetic moment of the bare $^{3}$He$^{2+}$ nucleus requires resolving minuscule spin-flip-induced axial frequency shifts of the order of $50\, \text{mHz}$, a factor of $400$ smaller than observed for $^{3}$He$^{+}$ ions [1]. This challenging measurement will be performed on a single ion confined in a Penning trap at MPIK.
Current axial...