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Optics Express

Cs vapor microcells with Ne-He buffer gas mixture for high operation-temperature miniature atomic clocks

Eric Kroemer, Moustafa Abdel Hafiz, Vincent N. Maurice, B. Fouilland, Christophe Gorecki, Rodolphe Boudot

Published Jul 7, 2015• 16 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on the characterization of Cs vapor microfabricated cells filled with a Ne-He buffer gas mixture using coherent population trapping (CPT) spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of the Cs clock frequency is found to be canceled at the first order around a so-called inversion temperature higher than 80°C whose value depends on the buffer gas partial pressure ratio. This buffer gas mixture could be well-adapted for the development of miniature atomic clocks devoted to be used in specific applications such as defense and avionic systems with high operating temperature environment (typically higher than 85°C). This solution suggests an alternative to buffer gas mixtures generally used in optically-pumped vapor cell atomic clocks.

DOI
10.1364/oe.23.018373

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We report on the characterization of Cs vapor microfabricated cells filled with a Ne-He buffer gas mixture using coherent population trapping (CPT) spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of the Cs clock frequency is found to be canceled at the first order around a so-called inversion temperature higher than 80°C whose value depends on the buffer gas partial pressure ratio. This buffer gas mixture could be well-adapted for the development of miniature atomic clocks devoted to be used in specific applications such as defense and avionic systems with high operating temperature environment (typically higher than 85°C). This solution suggests an alternative to buffer gas mixtures generally used in optically-pumped vapor cell atomic clocks.
Through the detection of Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) resonances, we demonstrate the temperature-dependence cancellation of the Cs clock frequency in microfabricated vapor cells filled with a mixture of Ne and Ar. The inversion temperature at which the Cs clock frequency temperature sensitivity is greatly reduced only depends on the partial pressure of buffer gases and is measured to be lower than 80°C as expected with simple theoretical calculations. These results are important for the development of state-of-the-art Cs vapor cell clocks with improved long-term frequency stability.
We report the characterization of dark line resonances observed in Cs vapor microcells filled with a unique neon (Ne) buffer gas. The impact on the coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance of some critical external parameters such as laser intensity, cell temperature, and microwave power is studied. We show the suppression of the first-order light shift by proper choice of the microwave power. The temperature dependence of the Cs ground state hyperfine resonance frequency is shown to be canceled in the 77–80 °C range for various Ne buffer gas pressures. The necessity to adjust the Ne buffer gas pressure or the cell dimensions to optimize the CPT signal height at the frequency inversion temperature is pointed out. Based on such Cs–Ne microcells, we preliminary demonstrate a 852 nm vertical cavity surface emitted laser (VCSEL)-modulated based CPT atomic clock exhibiting a short term fractional frequency instability σy(τ)=1.5×10−10τ−1/2 until 30 s. These results, similar to those published in the literature by others groups, prove the potential of our original microcell technology in view of the development of high-performance chip scale atomic clocks.
We report the characterization of Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) resonances in Cs vapor microcells filled with Neon (Ne) buffer gas. The impact on the atomic hyperfine resonance of some external parameters such as laser intensity and cell temperature is studied. We show the suppression of the first-order light shift by proper choice of the microwave power. The temperature dependence of the Cs ground state hyperfine resonance frequency is shown to be canceled in the 77-80°C range for various Ne buffer gas pressures. We preliminary demonstrate a 852 nm VCSEL-modulated based CPT atomic clock exhibiting a short term fractional frequency instability σy(τ) = 1.5×10-10τ-1/2until 200 s.
This letter reports on the generation of a tunable buffer gas mixture within microfabricated alkali vapor cells. We show that the combination of low-permeation windows with sequential openings of laser-actuated break-seals enables adjustment of a helium-neon (He-Ne) noble gas mixture, fully compatible with alkali metal dispensers. The gas reservoirs and the main cell cavities are initially sealed at the wafer level under distinct helium and neon atmospheres, respectively. Within each cell, after Cs vapor is released from the dispenser, the break-seals are successively actuated to incrementally increase the helium fraction in the buffer gas mixture. This process shifts the atomic clock frequency turnover temperature toward higher values. As an illustration, one of the fabricated cells was operated at 95∘^{\circ}∘C in a coherent population trapping clock, achieving a fractional frequency stability of 9$\times101010^{-11}$ at one-day integration time. These results demonstrate the feasibility of precisely tuning buffer gas compositions in microfabricated vapor cells and support the suitability of He-Ne mixtures for miniature atomic clock applications.
Pulsed coherent population trapping (CPT) spectroscopy is applied in buffer-gas filled Cs–Ne vapor microfabricated cells. The properties of the Ramsey-CPT clock transition central fringe (linewidth, signal amplitude, and contrast) are studied versus several experimental parameters, including the Ramsey sequence and the input laser intensity, and are compared to those obtained in the conventional continuous (CW) interrogation mode. In the pulsed case and for short Ramsey-free evolution times TR, the central fringe linewidth is found to exhibit a small but visible power broadening and is measured to be narrower than the value of 1/(2TR) that is reached for long TR. The microwave hyperfine coherence lifetime T2 in the Cs–Ne microcells is measured to be in the 50–500 μs range. Its dependence to the buffer gas pressure or cell temperature is briefly studied.
We report the fabrication of a micro vapor cell which has Rb and Ne inside with internal volumes of several millimeters, which is the key component of chip-scale atomic devices like clocks and magnetometers. The cells were filled with Ne at a controlled pressure as the buffer gas by using glass-silicon anodic bonding techniques and dispenser pills of SAES Getters. And a special two-step bonding method was taken to avoid breakdown caused by the buffer gas and to secure the quality of the bonding. We also built an optical measuring system and measured the coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance of85Rb D1 line with a linewidth below 2.0 kHz and a contrast about 1.1%. Zeeman spectrum for CPT resonance was also detected in these microcells. These results show that these vapor cells are capable to be used in atomic clocks or magnetometers.