High-stability compact atomic clock based on isotropic laser cooling

Journal Article · Wed Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.033436· OSTI ID:21450603

Esnault, Francois-Xavier; Holleville, David; Rossetto, Nicolas; Guerandel, Stephane; Dimarcq, Noel ^[1]

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1. LNE-SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS UPMC, 61 Avenue de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris (France)

We present a compact cold-atom clock configuration where isotropic laser cooling, microwave interrogation, and clock signal detection are successively performed inside a spherical microwave cavity. For ground operation, a typical Ramsey fringe width of 20 Hz has been demonstrated, limited by the atom cloud's free fall in the cavity. The isotropic cooling light's disordered properties provide a large and stable number of cold atoms, leading to a high signal-to-noise ratio limited by atomic shot noise. A relative frequency stability of 2.2x10{sup -13{tau}-1/2} has been achieved, averaged down to 4x10{sup -15} after 5x10{sup 3} s of integration. Development of such a high-performance compact clock is of major relevance for on-board applications, such as satellite-positioning systems. As a cesium clock, it opens the door to a new generation of compact primary standards and timekeeping devices.

• OSTI ID: 21450603
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.033436; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMIC CLOCKS
ATOMS
CESIUM
COOLING
LASER RADIATION
MICROWAVE RADIATION
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
STABILITY
VISIBLE RADIATION
ALKALI METALS
ATOM COLLISIONS
COLLISIONS
CONFIGURATION
DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
METALS
PHOTON COLLISIONS
RADIATIONS