Magnetic field measurement on 87Rb atomic fountain clock

Anjali Bisht, Manoj Das, Suchi Yadav +1 more

He-Nan Cheng, Siminda Deng, Zhen Zhang +7 more

In this article, taking advantage of the special magnetic shieldings and the optimal coil design of a transportable Rb atomic fountain clock, the intensity distribution in space and the fluctuations with time of the quantization magnetic field in the Ramsey region were measured using the atomic magneton-sensitive transition method. In an approximately 310 mm long Ramsey region, a peak-to-peak magnetic field intensity of a 0.74 nT deviation in space and a 0.06 nT fluctuation with time were obtained. These results correspond to a second-order Zeeman frequency shift of approximately (2095.5±5.1)×10-17. This is an essential step in advancing the total frequency uncertainty of the fountain clock to the order of 10-17.

Svenja A. Knappe, Peter D. D. Schwindt, Vladislav P. Gerginov +4 more

Marina Gertsvolf, L. Marmet

We show how the mapping of the magnetic field vector components can be achieved in a fountain clock by measuring the Larmor transition frequency in atoms that are used as a spatial probe. We control two vector components of the magnetic field and apply audio frequency magnetic pulses to localize and measure the field vector through Zeeman spectroscopy.

Frank A. Narducci, Arvind Srinivasan, Jon P. Davis +2 more

Chad Fertig, Kurt Gibble

We demonstrate a prototype of a laser-cooled 87Rb fountain clock and measure the frequency shift due to cold collisions. The shift is 30 times smaller than that in a laser-cooled Cs clock. We observe a density dependent pulling by the microwave cavity and use it to cancel the collision shift. We have also demonstrated a juggling atomic fountain to study cold collisions and we discuss the importance ofjuggling for future fountain clocks.