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International Conference on Space Optics (ICSO)

Tunable dual-frequency laser source for coherent population trapping cesium atomic clocks

Daniel Dolfi, Stéphane Guérandel, Fabiola A. Camargo, Patrick Georges, Gaëlle Lucas-Leclin, Ghaya Baili, Loïc Morvan, David Holleville, Isabelle Sagnes

Published Jan 5, 2018• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Coherent population trapping (CPT) has been demonstrated as an interesting technique for miniature atomic frequency references [1,2] and quantum information. It is based on the coupling of the two hyperfine ground states of an alkali atom – namely cesium (133Cs) for atomic clocks – through excitation to a common atomic level by two phase-coherent laser fields nearly resonant with the atomic transitions. The frequency difference between the two laser fields is tuned at the atomic frequency splitting in the microwave range, equal to 9.192 GHz for 133Cs atoms. Outputs powers in the mW range and narrow-linewidth emission (<500 kHz) are required for the two laser beams.

DOI
10.1117/12.2309273

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Coherent population trapping (CPT) has been demonstrated as an interesting technique for miniature atomic frequency references [1,2] and quantum information. It is based on the coupling of the two hyperfine ground states of an alkali atom – namely cesium (133Cs) for atomic clocks – through excitation to a common atomic level by two phase-coherent laser fields nearly resonant with the atomic transitions. The frequency difference between the two laser fields is tuned at the atomic frequency splitting in the microwave range, equal to 9.192 GHz for 133Cs atoms. Outputs powers in the mW range and narrow-linewidth emission (<500 kHz) are required for the two laser beams.
Space-borne atomic frequency standards demand a high level of performance and stability throughout the mission life in the harsh environment of space. Recently, atomic clocks employing Coherent Population Trapping (CPT), a quantum interference phenomenon in alkali atoms, have shown much promise for space application. This paper presents the development and realization of compact and reliable CPT atomic clock for ISRO's navigational satellites. In our approach, quantum interference in Rb-87 atoms are pursued for obtaining the clock resonance, owing to their larger ground state hyperfine transition energy (higher Q-factor). Quantum interference is realized by generating two resonant optical laser fields from a VCSEL diode by modulating its drive current at RF frequency which corresponds to the ground state hyperfine separation in Rb-87 atoms. The emission frequency of the laser diode is stabilized by locking it with respect to the D1 hyperfine transition with the help of a servo control loop, thereby the instabilities associated with laser frequency fluctuations are minimized. The resulting CPT resonance (<;kHz) as shown in Figure 1 is used as reference to stabilize the crystal oscillator frequency (10 MHz) that serves both as clock output and seed for generating the RF field.
In this paper we present our spectroscopic studies on Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) in micro-fabricated Caesium cells and our evaluation of its application in miniature atomic frequency standards (atomic clocks). We observe the CPT signal on the Cs D1-line by coupling two hyperfine ground-state Zeeman sub-levels to a common excited state using two coherent electromagnetic fields created with a modulated DFB laser. Contrarily to double resonance, CPT does not require any microwave cavity, which should facilitate the miniaturization of a future atomic clock device. We study and report here on the light shift phenomena at different cell temperatures and laser wavelength. We also present resonance shifts due to cell temperature variations and clock frequency stability measurements. To the best of our knowledge, this article is the first report on light shift with Cs D1 line in a CPT vapour-cell atomic clock.
The spectroscopic technique of coherent population trapping (CPT) enables an all-optical interrogation of the groundstate hyperfine splitting of cesium (or rubidium), compared to the optical-microwave double resonance technique conventionally employed in atomic frequency standards. All-optical interrogation enables the reduction of the size and power consumption of an atomic clock by two orders of magnitude, and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are preferred optical sources due to their low power consumption and circular output beam. Several research teams are currently using VCSELs for DARPA's chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) program with the goal of producing an atomic clock having a volume < 1 cm^3, a power consumption < 30 mW, and an instability (Allan deviation) < 1x10^-11 during a 1-hour averaging interval. This paper describes the VCSEL requirements for CPT-based atomic clocks, which include single mode operation, single polarization operation, modulation bandwidth > 4 GHz, low power consumption (for the CSAC), narrow linewidth, and low relative intensity noise (RIN). A significant manufacturing challenge is to reproducibly obtain the required wavelength at the specified VCSEL operating temperature and drive current. Data are presented that show the advantage of operating at the D1 (rather than D2) resonance of the alkali atoms. Measurements of VCSEL linewidth will be discussed in particular, since atomic clock performance is especially sensitive to this parameter.
Observation of CPT for the ground hyperfine interval in 133^{133}133Cs
We use the technique of coherent population trapping (CPT) to access the ground hyperfine interval (clock transition) in 133^{133}133Cs. The probe and control beams required for CPT are obtained from a single compact diode laser system. The phase coherence between the beams, whose frequency difference is the clock frequency, is obtained by frequency modulating the laser with an electro-optic modulator (EOM). The EOM is fiber coupled and hence does not require alignment, and the atoms are contained in a vapor cell. Both of these should prove advantageous for potential use as atomic clocks in satellites.
Abstract In this study, the light shift of coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances is studied in a miniature glass cell (~0.1 cm3) filled with 133Cs vapor. The atoms exposed to the radiation from a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The laser current is modulated at a microwave frequency (≈4.6 GHz), which leads to the frequency modulation (FM) of output radiation. In addition, the light beam is transmitted through an electro-optic modulator (EOM), which is assembled as a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, acquiring amplitude modulation (AM). This dual (FM–AM) modulation leads to essentially nonlinear behavior of the function describing the light shift of the CPT resonance versus the total optical power in the cell. In particular, this function has an extremum that can be used to suppress the influence of small optical power variations in the cell on the stability of the CPT-based quantum frequency standard (QFS). The proposed scheme is characterized by a number of parameters such as the phase difference between the FM and AM signals as well as the bias voltage at EOM, which are additional degrees of freedom for controlling the behavior of the light shift of the CPT resonance. This can be used for the optimization of the QFS operation regime.
Double-modulation coherent population trapping (CPT) is based on a synchronous modulation of Raman phase and laser polarization, which allows the atomic population to accumulate in a common dark state. The high contrast signal obtained on the clock transition with a relative compact and robust laser system is interesting as basis of a high performance microwave clock. Here we study the parameters of a double-modulation CPT Cs clock working in cw mode. The optimal polarization modulation frequency and cell temperature for maximum contrast of clock transition are investigated. The parameters of the detection are also studied. With the optimal parameters, we observe a CPT signal with contrast of 10% and linewidth of 492 Hz, which is well suited for implementing a cw atomic clock.