Development of a Conventional Laser-pumped Rb Atomic Clock: Status Report

Carlos Back and James Camparo

Abstract:	As is well known, the phase fluctuations of a laser can decrease the signal-to-noise ratio of a vapor-cell clock due to laser PM-to-AM conversion. In previous work, we demonstrated an easy means of eliminating this problem: use high-pressure resonance cells so that collisional dephasing keeps the atoms from following the laser’s fluctuating phase. Though our phase-1 clock employing a 100 torr N2 cell had excellent short-term performance, the long-term performance left much to be desired, quite likely because the increased pressure in the resonance cell gave the clock a fairly large temperature sensitivity. Here, we discuss our progress towards a phase-2 laser-pumped Rb clock, where the temperature sensitivity will be much reduced.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 39th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Meeting November 27 - 29, 2007 Hyatt Regency Long Beach Long Beach, California
Pages:	297 - 302
Cite this article:	Back, Carlos, Camparo, James, "Development of a Conventional Laser-pumped Rb Atomic Clock: Status Report," Proceedings of the 39th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Meeting, Long Beach, California, November 2007, pp. 297-302.
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