Implementation of Cavity Squeezing of a Collective Atomic Spin

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We squeeze unconditionally the collective spin of a dilute ensemble of laser-cooled rubidium-87 atoms using their interaction with a driven optical resonator. The shape and size of the resulting spin uncertainty region are well described by a simple analytical model [M.H.S., I.D.L., V.V., arXiv:0911.3936] through two orders of magnitude in the effective interaction strength, without free parameters. We deterministically generate states with up to 5.6(6) dB of metrologically relevant spin squeezing on the canonical rubidium-87 hyperfine clock transition.