Previous Abstract Return to Session P1b

Session P1b: Advances in Ground Atomic Clocks

A Narrow-Linewidth Brillouin Laser Used to Reduce the Intermodulation Noise in a Two-Photon Rubidium Frequency Standard
Kyle W. Martin, River Beard, AV Incorporated; Andrei Isichenko, Daniel J. Blumenthal, UCSB; Kaleb Campbell, Seth Erickson, and Sean Krzyzewski, Air Force Research Lab (AFRL)
Location: Royal Ballroom AB
Date/Time: Tuesday, Jan. 27, 5:30 p.m.

High precision portable and deployable frequency standards are required for modern navigation and communication technologies. Optical frequency standards are attractive for their improved stability over their microwave counterparts; however, increased complexities have anchored them in the laboratory. Sacrificing some sensitivity of the most stable optical clocks has led to recent development of deployable and portable optical frequency standards, leveraging hot atomic or molecular vapor. Furthermore, pairing emerging chip-based resonators with these deployable clocks to leverage ultranarrow lasers can further reduce the short-term instability, closing the gap between laboratory and deployable systems. We investigate an optical frequency standard based on the two-photon transition in 87Rb probed with a narrow Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) laser, quality factor over 130 million and instantaneous linewidth < 40 Hz. Previous reports on two-photon rubidium standards are often limited by laser frequency noise at the modulation frequency, known as the intermodulation limit hindering the one second fractional frequency stability to approximately . The use of a narrow clock laser coupled with operating at higher optical intensities yielded clock instabilities of at one second, currently the best short-term stability for a two-photon rubidium optical frequency standard. Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited. Public Affairs release approval # AFRL-2025-4730. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

Previous Abstract Return to Session P1b