Joint Conference of the European Frequency and Time Forum and IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFCS)
Hg/sup +/ trapped ion standard performance with the superconducting cavity maser oscillator as LO
John D. Prestage, Robert L. Tjoelker, R.T. Wang, G.J. Dick, Lute Maleki
Abstract
The frequency stability obtained with an ion-trap-based frequency standard where /sup 199/Hg/sup +/ ions are confined in a hybrid RF/DC linear trap is described. The 40.5-GHz clock transition is measured to be as narrow as 17 mHz representing a quality factor of 2.4*10/sup 12/. A hydrogen maser interrogation of a 37-mHz Hg/sup +/ resonance is used to measure 1*10/sup -15/ stability of the ion resonance at 10000-s averaging time. In another measurement the frequency of the superconducting cavity maser oscillator is steered to follow the Hg/sup +/ clock transition, again providing frequency stability of 1*10/sup -15/ at 10000-s.>