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Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology II

Systematic shifts in chip-scale atomic beam clocks

Gabriela D. Martinez, Alexander L. Staron, John E. Kitching, William McGehee, Travis M. Autry

Published Mar 13, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on progress in the characterization of systematic shifts in chip-scale atomic beam clocks, which offer the potential for improved long-term stability relative to existing chip-scale atomic clocks. Previous work has demonstrated the key features of chip-scale atomic beam devices including the use of a microfabricated Si/glass atomic beam cell, passively maintained vacuum environment, and an integrated Rb atomic beam source. A beam clock has been realized using Ramsey coherent population trapping interrogation with a demonstrated short-term fractional frequency stability of ≈ 1.2 × 10^(-9)at 1 s of integration. In this talk, we discuss the path toward long-term stabilty in chip-scale atomic beam clocks and leading clock systematics. Chip-scale atomic beams are a new platform for quantum sensing which offer the potential for long-term stability in compact, low-power applications.

DOI
10.1117/12.3012159

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We report on progress in the characterization of systematic shifts in chip-scale atomic beam clocks, which offer the potential for improved long-term stability relative to existing chip-scale atomic clocks. Previous work has demonstrated the key features of chip-scale atomic beam devices including the use of a microfabricated Si/glass atomic beam cell, passively maintained vacuum environment, and an integrated Rb atomic beam source. A beam clock has been realized using Ramsey coherent population trapping interrogation with a demonstrated short-term fractional frequency stability of ≈ 1.2 × 10^(-9)at 1 s of integration. In this talk, we discuss the path toward long-term stabilty in chip-scale atomic beam clocks and leading clock systematics. Chip-scale atomic beams are a new platform for quantum sensing which offer the potential for long-term stability in compact, low-power applications.
Abstract Atomic beams are a longstanding technology for atom-based sensors and clocks with widespread use in commercial frequency standards. Here, we report the demonstration a chip-scale microwave atomic beam clock using coherent population trapping (CPT) interrogation in a passively pumped atomic beam device. The beam device consists of a hermetically sealed vacuum cell fabricated from an anodically bonded stack of glass and Si wafers. Atomic beams are created using a lithographically defined microcapillary array connected to a Rb reservoir1 and propagate in a 15 mm long drift cavity. We present a detailed characterization of the atomic beam performance (total Rb flux ≈ 7.7 × 1011 s-1 at 363 K device temperature) and of the vacuum environment in the device (pressure < 1 Pa), which is sustained using getter materials which pump residual gases and Rb vapor. A chip-scale beam clock is realized using Ramsey CPT spectroscopy of the 87Rb ground state hyperfine transition over a 10 mm Ramsey distance in the atomic beam device. The prototype atomic beam clock demonstrates a fractional frequency stability of ≈ 1.2 × 10-9/√τ for integration times τ from 1 s to 250 s, limited by detection noise. Optimized atomic beam clocks based on this approach may exceed the long-term stability of existing chip-scale clocks, and leading long-term systematics are predicted to limit the ultimate fractional frequency stability below 10-12.
We have undertaken the development of a chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) whose design goals include short-term stability, sigma(sub y)(tau=1 hour), of 1x10(exp 11) with a total power consumption of 30 mW and an overall device volume of 1 cu cm. The stringent power requirement dominates the physics package architecture, dictating a small (<5 mm(exp 3) gaseous atomic ensemble interrogated by a low-power semiconductor laser. At PTTI 2002, we reported on initial experimental investigations leading to the decision to employ the coherent population trapping (CPT) interrogation technique. This paper describes our further progress on the CSAC effort, including the development of custom vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) sources and techniques for microfabricating miniature cesium vapor cells comprised of anodically bonded silicon and glass. Measurements of the signal contrast and linewidth of both the cesium D1 and D2 resonance transitions are compared, and frequency stability measurements of the CSAC testbed are presented.
Abstract We describe three independent research directions focussed on the development of next-generation chip-scale atomic clocks, which combine small size, low power consumption and manufacturability with high frequency stability. The use of optical transitions in microfabricated vapor cells improves both short- and long-term frequency stability to near 10−13 at the cost of the added complexity of a chip-scale optical frequency comb. Chip-scale atomic beam microwave clocks have been successfully demonstrated and offer the potential for microsecond-level timing accuracy over one week. And finally, Sr vapor cells have been developed with lifetimes exceeding 250 hours and residual gas pressures below 1 Torr.
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.
The next generation of alkali-vapor-cell atomic clocks are under development in labs around the world, with prototypes already demonstrating short-term fractional frequency stabilities one or two orders of magnitude better than for commercial clocks. However, stability is often spoiled at medium time scales (>100 s) by light-power-induced frequency-shift effects. The authors tackle this problem by applying autobalanced Ramsey interrogation, recently demonstrated on a Yb+{}^{+}+ clock, to coherent-population-trapping systems---an approach that could really boost the development of vapor-cell clocks with white-noise-limited frequency stability over greatly extended time scales.
The convergence of atomic spectroscopy, MEMS cell technologies and integrated photonics has led to the deployment of high-precision chip-scale atomic devices [1]. In this talk, we will present in-progress studies at FEMTO-ST Institute, France, for the development of microcellbased microwave and optical atomic clocks, with enhanced stability performances. In the first part, we will talk about the demonstration of CPT-based microwave cell clocks with stability at 1 day in the low 10−12 range [2], made possible thanks to the combination of advanced Ramsey-based interrogation sequences [3] and cells built with low gas permeation windows [4-5]. In the second part, we will discuss the in-progress development of a microcell-based optical frequency reference based on the two-photon transition of Rb atom at 778 nm. An encouraging short-term stability of 3 × 10−13 at 1 s and 3 × 10−14 at 100 s has been recently achieved [6]. Future studies will be briefly discussed.