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

A compact cold-atom frequency standard based on coherent population trapping

François-Xavier Esnault, John E. Kitching, Elizabeth A. Donley

Published May 1, 2012• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present the status of our cold-atom clock based on coherent population trapping, including the present clock stability and a preliminary evaluation of the three main systematic frequency shifts: the 1st-order Doppler shift, the Zeeman shift, and the light shift.
DOI
10.1109/fcs.2012.6243673

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A compact cold-atom clock based on coherent population trapping (CPT) has been developed. The clock typically demonstrates a short-term fractional frequency stability of 4×10−11/√τ, limited by frequency noise on the interrogation lasers. The clock interrogates a sample of 2×105atoms under free-fall with typical cycle and Ramsey periods of 50 ms and 16 ms, respectively. The largest two systematic frequency shifts that can limit the clock's long-term stability are the light shift and the Doppler shift.
A review of a cold-atom clock based on coherent population trapping that highlights recent progress will be presented. Improvements in the coherence of the interrogation spectrum have resulted in the generation of dark states in the cold Rb atoms with essentially 100 % transmission – evidence that decoherence in this system is negligible. This improvement in coherence has resulted in improved short-term stability at the level of 1.5E-11 fractional frequency stability for a one second integration period. In combination with improved interrogation schemes, the improved spectrum has also resulted in dramatically smaller light shifts and improved long-term frequency stability – with the clock averaging down to the level of 1E-13 fractional frequency stability on time scales of over 10,000 seconds.