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Modern Physics Letters B

A large-scale cold atom source in an integrating sphere

Ben-Chang Zheng, Hua-Dong Cheng, Yan-Ling Meng, Peng Liu, 王秀梅 Wang Xiumei, Ling Xiao, Jinyin Wan, Liang Liu

Published May 26, 2014• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An integrating sphere with a diameter of 10 cm is developed for cooling atoms. The maximum number of 2 × 1010 cold atoms is obtained from a background vapor with 220 mW cooling laser power. The cold atom number can be increased by further increasing the cooling power. Such cold atom source would have potential use for Raman–Ramsey atomic clock with good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

DOI
10.1142/s0217984914501164

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An integrating sphere with a diameter of 10 cm is developed for cooling atoms. The maximum number of 2 × 1010 cold atoms is obtained from a background vapor with 220 mW cooling laser power. The cold atom number can be increased by further increasing the cooling power. Such cold atom source would have potential use for Raman–Ramsey atomic clock with good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
We present a compact cold-atom clock configuration where isotropic laser cooling, microwave interrogation, and clock signal detection are successively performed inside a spherical microwave cavity. For ground operation, a typical Ramsey fringe width of 20 Hz has been demonstrated, limited by the atom cloud's free fall in the cavity. The isotropic cooling light's disordered properties provide a large and stable number of cold atoms, leading to a high signal-to-noise ratio limited by atomic shot noise. A relative frequency stability of $2.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}13}{\ensuremath{\tau}}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$ has been achieved, averaged down to $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}15}$ after $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{3}$ s of integration. Development of such a high-performance compact clock is of major relevance for on-board applications, such as satellite-positioning systems. As a cesium clock, it opens the door to a new generation of compact primary standards and timekeeping devices.
The medium long-term frequency stability of the integrating sphere cold atom clock was improved. During the clock operation, Rb87 atoms were cooled and manipulated using cooling light diffusely reflected by the inner surface of a microwave cavity in the clock. This light heated the cavity and caused a frequency drift from the resonant frequency of the cavity. Power fluctuations of the cooling light led to atomic density variations in the cavity’s central area, which increased the clock frequency instability through the cavity pulling effect. We overcame these limitations with appropriate solutions. A frequency stability of 3.5×10−15 was achieved when the integrating time τ increased to 2×104 s.
We reported on the progress toward an atomic clock based on a continuous cold 87Rb atomic beam. The atomic beam source is generated directly from a 2D+Magneto-Optical Trapping (MOT) with the flux of about 3×109atoms/s and mean longitudinal velocity of 10 m/s. The beam had a free evolution time of 9 ms over the separated distance of 90 mm, producing a 54-Hz-wide Raman-Ramsey fringe. The Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) of Raman-Ramsey fringes is effectively increased by modulation and demodulation methods, which offer a promising approach to improving the frequency stability of the atomic clock.