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

All-optical integrated atomic clock

Lute Maleki, Vladimir S. Ilchenko, Makan Mohageg, Andrey B. Matsko, Anatoliy A. Savchenkov, David J. Seidel, N. P. Wells, James C. Camparo, Bernardo Jaduszliwer

Published Jun 1, 2010• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We describe a novel architecture for realization of a miniature all-optical atomic clock. We show theoretically that a hyperparametric oscillator based on a whispering gallery mode resonator can be used as a miniature frequency divider for the clock. Such a frequency divider allows for transferring the long term frequency stability from the optical frequency domain to the RF frequency domain. We present some details for the clock that utilizes the thermally stable isoclinic point of the inhomogeneously broadened D1line of87Rb for frequency stabilization, and report on progress towards its experimental realization.

DOI
10.1109/freq.2010.5556362

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We describe a novel architecture for realization of a miniature all-optical atomic clock. We show theoretically that a hyperparametric oscillator based on a whispering gallery mode resonator can be used as a miniature frequency divider for the clock. Such a frequency divider allows for transferring the long term frequency stability from the optical frequency domain to the RF frequency domain. We present some details for the clock that utilizes the thermally stable isoclinic point of the inhomogeneously broadened D1line of87Rb for frequency stabilization, and report on progress towards its experimental realization.
This paper presents a novel architecture for a high performance atomic clock based on the use of miniature optical whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonators. Following the approach of stabilizing a laser local oscillator to an optical transition in an atom or ion, as used in advanced atomic clock, a semiconductor laser is used for stabilization to the D1 line of Rb atoms, held in a small vapor cell. The laser is self-injection locked to a WGM resonator to reduce its linewidth. To produce the RF output of the clock, a second WGM resonator excited with a second cw semiconductor laser produces an optical frequency comb that is demodulated on a fast photodiode. Locking the resonator that generates the frequency comb to the laser stabilized to the Rb transition transfers the stability of the atomic transition to the RF output of the clock. In this way, a miniature all-optical atomic clock is realized. Details of the operation of the clock and application of the architecture to other atomic systems, such as a ytterbium ion, will be described.
We report on progress in the development of an All-Optical Integrated Micro-Primary Atomic Clock (AO-IMPAC). The operattion of the clock is based on an inhomogeneously broadened rubidium optical transition used for stabilization of a Kerr optical frequency comb generated in a high-Q whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonator. We have demonstrated the initial operation of this clock built in a physics package with dimensions 5 × 6 × 1.2 cm. The clock's long term stability approaches 3 × 10-13at about 2 × 104s integration time. The measured value is limited by the noise floor of the measurement setup.
We report on progress in the development of atomic clocks based on an opto-electronic oscillator stabilized with an atomic cell. For a demonstration setup, the short term (1 second) stability of 5/spl middot/10/sup -10/ and the long term (100 seconds) stability of 6/spl middot/10/sup -11/ are reported. Also discussed is the physics of a low power electro-optical modulator utilizing whispering gallery modes in a segnetoelectric disk. This modulator is an important element of the designed clock. It is shown that our approach allows for multi-function application of the designed clocks, that can also operate in the magnetometer regime.
Abstract Optical atomic clocks with compact size, reduced weight and low power consumption have broad out-of-the-lab applications such as satellite-based geo-positioning and communication engineering. Here, we propose an active optical microclock based on the lattice-trapped atoms evanescently interacting with a whispering-gallery-mode microcavity. Unlike the conventional passive clock scheme, the active operation directly produces the optical frequency standard without the need of extra laser stabilization, substantially simplifying the clock configuration. The numerical simulation illustrates that the microclock’s frequency stability reaches 1.5 × 10 − 14 at 1 s of averaging, over one order of magnitude better than the recently demonstrated chip-scale optical clock that is built upon rubidium vapor cell and also more stable than current cesium fountain clocks and hydrogen masers. Our work extends the chip-scale clocks to the active fashion, paving the way towards the on-chip quantum micro-metrology, for example, the optical frequency comparison and synchronization between multiple microclocks through frequency microcombs.
Current state-of-the-art frequency standards are passive optical atomic clocks where the frequency of an optical resonator is stabilized to a narrow atomic transition. Passive clocks have achieved unprecedented stabilities of 6.6 x 10--19 over one hour of averaging time [1]. However, they face intrinsic limitations, particularly due to thermal and mechanical fluctuations of the local oscillator. To surpass the limitations of the passive clocks and go beyond the state-of-the-art, the idea of building active optical atomic clocks emerges. These clocks would be optical counterparts of hydrogen masers, with the emitted frequency defined by the atomic transition and therefore inherently stable against cavity instabilities. This paper discusses the latest developments and future prospects in the field of active optical atomic clocks.
A whispering-gallery-mode microlaser in the bad-cavity limit serves as an active optical clock. In this clock scheme, an ensemble of two-level atoms is trapped in a two-color ring-shaped optical lattice, i.e., Lamb-Dicke regime, and evanescently interacts with an optical microcavity. The microclock is operated in the pulsed mode, where the atoms are periodically pumped into the upper state of the electric-dipole-forbidden clock transition, providing the optical gain. The numerical simulation shows that the fractional frequency instability of the microclock reaches $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}14}$ at 103{10}^{3}103 s of averaging, mainly limited by the lattice-induced frequency shifts. This miniature optical clock owns the high integration and can be potentially used to supply the time standard in a photonic network, paving the way towards the on-chip metrology.