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Applied Physics Letters

Reducing frequency drift caused by light shift in coherent population trapping-based low-power atomic clocks

Shinya Yanagimachi, Kazuhiro Harasaka, Ryoichiro Suzuki, Mitsuru Suzuki, Shigeyoshi Goka

Published Mar 9, 2020• 32 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a model to reduce the influence that the light-shift induced frequency drift has on the long-term stability of coherent population trapping (CPT)-based low-power atomic clocks. We experimentally validated the proposed model using the chip-scale atomic clock architecture. The model considers both the drift of the dc-bias current to compensate for the wavelength aging of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and the variation in the modulation index of the light field generated by the VCSEL. We investigated the dc-bias-current-dependency of the frequency drift in an atomic clock module both theoretically and experimentally, confirming that the frequency drift can change as a function of the VCSEL basic parameters. When the atomic clock module was operated over a period of five months at the dc-bias current affording a zero-crossing of the clock frequency drift, the Allan standard deviation and clock frequency drift for long-term stability were 8.0×10−12 for averaging times of 4×106 s and 2.4×10−13/day, respectively. Our approach is promising to improve the long-term stability of CPT-based low-power atomic clocks.

DOI
10.1063/1.5143377

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We propose a model to reduce the influence that the light-shift induced frequency drift has on the long-term stability of coherent population trapping (CPT)-based low-power atomic clocks. We experimentally validated the proposed model using the chip-scale atomic clock architecture. The model considers both the drift of the dc-bias current to compensate for the wavelength aging of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and the variation in the modulation index of the light field generated by the VCSEL. We investigated the dc-bias-current-dependency of the frequency drift in an atomic clock module both theoretically and experimentally, confirming that the frequency drift can change as a function of the VCSEL basic parameters. When the atomic clock module was operated over a period of five months at the dc-bias current affording a zero-crossing of the clock frequency drift, the Allan standard deviation and clock frequency drift for long-term stability were 8.0×10−12 for averaging times of 4×106 s and 2.4×10−13/day, respectively. Our approach is promising to improve the long-term stability of CPT-based low-power atomic clocks.
The authors demonstrate a simple technique to significantly improve the long-term frequency stability of atomic clocks based on coherent population trapping (CPT). In this technique, the CPT fields are created by a modulated diode laser and a slow servo is used to actively tune the laser modulation index to a value where the light shift vanishes. The observed clock frequency at this modulation index is given by the rubidium hyperfine frequency when no light fields are present, and this makes the clock frequency largely insensitive to variations in laser properties. In addition to reducing stringent requirements on the long-term stabilities of laser temperature, laser frequency, and rf modulation power, this technique may also significantly reduce frequency drifts related to laser aging. In the experiment, they demonstrate improvement by over one order of magnitude in the stability of a clock that is limited by light-shift-induced frequency drifts.
We report on the performance of the first table-top prototype atomic clock based on coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances with parallel linearly polarized optical fields (lin‖lin configuration). Our apparatus uses a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) tuned to the D1 line of 87Rb with the current modulation at the 87Rb hyperfine frequency. We demonstrate cancellation of the first-order light shift by the proper choice of rf modulation power and further improve our prototype clock stability by optimizing the parameters of the microwave lock loop. Operating in these optimal conditions, we measured a short-term fractional frequency stability (Allan deviation) 2×10−11τ−1/2 for observation times 1 s ≤ τ ≤ 20 s. This value is limited by large VCSEL phase noise and environmental temperature fluctuation. Further improvements in frequency stability should be possible with an apparatus designed as a dedicated lin‖lin CPT resonance clock with environmental impacts minimized.
We report on the operation of a coherent population trapping (CPT) microcell atomic clock using a pulsed Ramsey-like interrogation. The Ramsey-CPT sequence, defined by two-step optical pulses separated by a free-evolution dark time, is produced by switching on and off the output power of a low-power vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, through direct modulation of its driving current. High-contrast and narrow Ramsey-CPT fringes are detected without the use of any external optical modulator stage. We demonstrate closed-loop operation of the clock based on high-speed digital signal processing implemented in a field programmable gate array board. The clock's short-term fractional frequency stability is 1.3 × 10−10τ−1/2 until 2000 s. A power light-shift coefficient of 8 × 10−11/μW, in relative value, is obtained for a dark time of 150 μs. This value is about ten times lower than in the continuous regime. These results show the feasibility of fully integrated atomic clocks based on Ramsey spectroscopy, which could provide enhanced long-term stability.
Chip-scale atomic clocks are critical for applications requiring compact, energy-efficient, and highly stable timing, such as GPS receivers and communication systems. Coherent population trapping (CPT)-based atomic clocks, which commonly use vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), have enabled significant miniaturization. However, their precision is limited by the broad linewidth of VCSELs. Alternative laser technologies, such as distributed Bragg reflector lasers, distributed feedback lasers, and external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs), offer potential improvements but face challenges in achieving compact size and adequate modulation bandwidth. This study presents a 795 nm chip-ECDL with a direct modulation bandwidth up to 4 GHz, specifically designed for CPT chip-scale atomic clocks. Based on the chip-ECDL, a CPT atomic clock with a compact volume of 19.4 ml and power consumption of 1.5 W has been developed. Under identical operating conditions, the CPT signal produced by the chip-ECDL exhibits a 34% reduction in linewidth and a 1.14-fold increase in contrast compared to a VCSEL-based clock. Demonstrating short-term stability better than 5×10−11τ−1/2(1 s<τ<2000 s) and reaching a best stability of 6.6×10−13 at 2000 s, this work represents the application of an ECDL in a CPT chip-scale clock, advancing the development of next-generation, high-performance chip-scale atomic clocks.
Abstract We investigated the light shift of Ramsey coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance by drive current modulation (DCM), which can be realized with low power consumption in a small system, to improve the performance of a CPT atomic clock. The light shift makes the greatest contribution to the degradation of long-term frequency stability of a CPT atomic clock. We also devised digitizer-based DCM to reduce the uncertainty in the frequency of light shift due to wavelength variation at the time of observation. The results show that light shift with DCM is reduced compared with cw excitation and is consistent with theoretical calculations. The estimated frequency uncertainty of the light shift due to wavelength variation using the proposed method is 2.1 × 10−13, which is approximately 165 times better than that of the conventional method without a digitizer, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method for future small atomic clocks.
We present an evaluation of the long-term frequency instability and environmental sensitivity of a chip-scale atomic clock based on coherent population trapping, particularly as affected by the light-source subassembly. The long-term frequency stability of this type of device can be dramatically improved by judicious choice of operating parameters of the light-source subassembly. We find that the clock frequency is influenced by the laser-injection current, the laser temperature, and the rf modulation index. The sensitivity of the clock frequency to changes in the laser-injection current or the substrate temperature can be significantly reduced through adjustment of the rf modulation index. This makes the requirements imposed on the laser-temperature stabilization, in order to achieve a given frequency stability, less severe. The clock-frequency instability due to variations in local oscillator power is shown to be reduced through the choice of an appropriate light intensity inside the cell. The importance of these parameters with regard to the long-term stability of such systems is discussed.