Dr Ashby Hilton

Grant-Funded Researcher (B)

School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

I am passionate researcher working in the fields of precision metrology and quantum optics. I have a background in hands-on lab work, with experience in designing analogue electronics, ultra-high vacuum experiments, and feedback and control systems.

Outside of the lab I take to hills and spend my weekends rock climbing or cycling, or on quieter days, working in the garden and baking.

My Research
Career
Publications
Supervision
Contact

During my PhD I worked on developing a experiment capable of laser cooling rubidium atoms, trapping them, and funneling them into the centre of a specialised hollow-core fibre. This combination of high optical intensities and large atomic densities over a long one-dimensional medium is an excellent platform for testing cutting-edge quantum-optics protocols such as quantum memories and optical pulse storage.

My current research is focused around the construction of a compact optical-atomic clock based on an extremely well-defined transition in Ytterbium. This project combines a wide range of specialities including precision measurement, automation and control, quantum optics, mechanical design and miniaturisation, vacuum technology, and so much more. Luckily we have a great team together, and lots of exciting ideas to try out.

Appointments

Date Position Institution name

2020 - ongoing Grant Funded Researcher University of Adelaide
Education

Date Institution name Country Title

2020 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
Research Interests

Atomic and Molecular Physics Lasers and Quantum Electronics Nonlinear Optics and Spectroscopy Optics Optoelectronics & Photonics Quantum Optics Quantum Physics Signal Processing

Date	Position	Institution name
2020 - ongoing	Grant Funded Researcher	University of Adelaide

Date	Institution name	Country	Title
2020	University of Adelaide	Australia	PhD

Journals

Year	Citation
2025	Hilton, A. P., Offer, R. F., Klantsataya, E., Scholten, S. K., Bourbeau Hébert, N., Billington, C. J., . . . Luiten, A. N. (2025). Demonstration of a mobile optical clock ensemble at sea.. Nature communications, 16(1), 6063. DOI
2023	Strathearn, A., Offer, R. F., Hilton, A. P., Klantsataya, E., Luiten, A. N., Anderson, R. P., . . . Stace, T. M. (2023). Wave-front curvature in optical atomic beam clocks. Physical Review A, 108(1), 013105-1-013105-12. DOI Scopus3
2021	Bourbeau Hebert, N., Scholten, S., Hilton, A., Offer, R., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. (2021). Orthogonalizing the control of frequency combs for optical clockworks. Optics Letters, 46(19), 4972-4975. DOI Scopus4 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2020	Hilton, A. P., Light, P. S., Talbot, L., & Luiten, A. N. (2020). Optimal design for spectral narrowing and fast frequency sweep of an interferometer-stabilized laser. Optics Letters, 45(1), 45-48. DOI Scopus7 WoS5
2020	Hilton, A. P., Luiten, A. N., & Light, P. S. (2020). Light-shift spectroscopy of optically trapped atomic ensembles. New Journal of Physics, 22(3), 033042-1-033042-10. DOI Scopus3 WoS1
2020	Bourbeau Hebert, N., Hilton, A. P., Light, P. S., & Luiten, A. N. (2020). Hertz-level frequency comparisons between diverse color lasers without a frequency comb. Optics Letters, 45(15), 4196-4199. DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2019	Hilton, A. P., Perrella, C., Luiten, A. N., & Light, P. S. (2019). Dual-color magic-wavelength trap for suppression of light shifts in atoms. Physical Review Applied, 11(2), 1-7. DOI Scopus9 WoS8
2018	Hilton, A., Perrella, C., Benabid, F., Sparkes, B., Luiten, A., & Light, P. (2018). High-efficiency cold-atom transport into a waveguide trap. Physical Review Applied, 10(4), 044034-1-044034-9. DOI Scopus19 WoS14
2017	Heo, M. -S., Park, S., Lee, W. -K., Lee, S. -B., Hong, H. -G., Kwon, T., . . . Hartnett, J. (2017). Drift-compensated low-noise frequency synthesis based on a cryoCSO for the KRISS-F1. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 66(6), 1343-1348. DOI Scopus6 WoS5
2017	Lee, S., Heo, M., Kwon, T., Hong, H., Lee, S., Hilton, A., . . . Park, S. (2017). Operating atomic fountain clock using robust DBR laser: short-term stability analysis. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 66(6), 1349-1354. DOI Scopus12 WoS10
2017	Al-Ashwal, W., Hilton, A., Luiten, A., & Hartnett, J. (2017). Low phase noise frequency synthesis for ultrastable X-band oscillators. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, 27(4), 392-394. DOI Scopus7 WoS3
2016	Light, P., Hilton, A., White, R., Perrella, C., Anstie, J., Hartnett, J., . . . Luiten, A. (2016). Bidirectional microwave and optical signal dissemination. Optics Letters, 41(5), 1014-1017. DOI Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC1
2014	Williams, J. F., Samarin, S., Targhagh, O., Hilton, A., Sudarshan, K., Guagliardo, P., . . . Artamonov, O. (2014). Scattering of free electrons by free electrons. Physical Review A, 89(6), 062717-1-062717-6. DOI Scopus2 WoS2

Conference Papers

Year	Citation
2014	Hilton, A., Hartnett, J., Ivanov, E., & Luiten, A. (2014). Ultra-high stability cryocooled sapphire microwave oscillators. In Proceedings 2014 IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (pp. 306). Taipei, TAIWAN: IEEE Computer Society. DOI

Media

Year	Citation
-	Light, P., & Hilton, A. (n.d.). Guiding atoms into hollow fibre with attractive optical guide. DOI
-	Hilton, A. (n.d.). Simulation of Atoms Bouncing from Near Detuned Dipole Trap. DOI
-	Hilton, A. (n.d.). Simulation of Atoms Being Guided into HC-PCF. DOI
-	Hilton, A. (n.d.). Movie of Atoms Coupling Into HC-PCF. DOI
-	Hilton, A. (n.d.). Movie of Atoms Bouncing from Fibre. DOI

Preprint

Year	Citation
2024	Hilton, A. P., Offer, R. F., Klantsataya, E., Scholten, S. K., Hébert, N. B., Billington, C., . . . Luiten, A. N. (2024). Demonstration of a Mobile Optical Clock Ensemble at Sea.
2024	White, B., Offer, R., Hilton, A., & Luiten, A. (2024). The SWaP plot: Visualising the performance of portable atomic clocks as a function of their size, weight and power.
2018	Hilton, A. P., Perrella, C., Luiten, A. N., & Light, P. S. (2018). Dual-colour magic-wavelength trap for suppression of light shifts in atoms.

Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2020	Co-Supervisor	NGTF quantum technology stream quest to build a portable atomic clock	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Benjamin Robert White

Position: Grant-Funded Researcher (B)
Phone: 83132365
Email: ashby.hilton@adelaide.edu.au
Fax: 83134380
Campus: North Terrace
Building: The Braggs, floor 1
Org Unit: Physics

Dr Ashby Hilton

Appointments

Education

Research Interests

Journals

Conference Papers

Media

Preprint

Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Connect With Me

External Profiles