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Joint Conference of the European Frequency and Time Forum and IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFCS)

Microwave frequency reference based on VCSEL-driven dark-line resonances in Cs vapor

John E. Kitching, N. Vukičević, Leo W. Hollberg, Svenja A. Knappe, C. Affolderbach, R. Wynands

Published Nov 7, 2002• 79 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Dark-line resonances in Cs vapor are studied for potential use in a compact, low-power microwave frequency reference. The resonance is excited using light from a VCSEL and detected using the change in DC absorption, resulting in an extremely simple physics package with very high tolerance to misalignment and potentially low acceleration sensitivity. We anticipate engineering the package developed into a device with a volume less than 1 cm/spl times/1 cm/spl times/2 cm and a power dissipation of much less than 100 mW, depending on the thermal environment.

DOI
10.1109/freq.2000.887438

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Dark-line resonances in Cs vapor are studied for potential use in a compact, low-power microwave frequency reference. The resonance is excited using light from a VCSEL and detected using the change in DC absorption, resulting in an extremely simple physics package with very high tolerance to misalignment and potentially low acceleration sensitivity. We anticipate engineering the package developed into a device with a volume less than 1 cm/spl times/1 cm/spl times/2 cm and a power dissipation of much less than 100 mW, depending on the thermal environment.
Summary form only given. We report on recent experiments to use dark line coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances in cesium vapor as the basis for a compact frequency reference. The resonance is excited by directly modulating the injection current of a VCSEL at one-half the ground state hyperfine transition of Cs (4.6 GHz) to produce RF sidebands on the optical carrier. The laser output is then passed through a room-temperature cell containing Cs at its vapor pressure together with 8.7 kPa of Neon buffer gas and the transmitted optical power is detected in a photodiode. When the laser carrier is tuned half way between the two hyperfine components of the D/sub 2/ line at 852 nm, and the RF modulation frequency is adjusted to be equal to one-half the hyperfine splitting, the absorption of the sidebands through the cell is slightly reduced due to the CPT effect. As the RF frequency is scanned over the resonance, lock-in detection is used to produce a /spl sim/1 kHz wide dispersive error signal which is in turn used to stabilize the modulation frequency. The narrow signal is the result of the buffer gas, which reduces the time-of-flight broadening of the transition.
A low-cost, potentially compact and robust microwave frequency reference can be constructed by use of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and coherent population-trapping resonances in Cs vapor cells. Fractional frequency instabilities of 2×10-11/τ/s have been achieved with a minimum of 7×10-13 at τ=1000 s. The performance of this device as a function of external parameters such as light intensity, optical detuning, and cell temperature is discussed. The dependence of the dark-line resonance signal on these parameters can be understood largely by means of a simple, three-level model. The short-term stability depends critically on the optical detuning, whereas the long-term stability is limited currently by line shifts due to drifts in cell temperature.
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.