A Miniature Cold Atom Frequency Standard

V. Shah, M. Mescher, A. Martins, J. Leblanc, N. Byrne, B. Timmons, R. Stoner, F. Rogamentich, and R. Lutwak

Abstract:	We report on our progress towards the development of a miniature cold atom frequency standard (MCAFS). The ultimate program objective is a chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) with performance comparable to a bench top Cesium beam primary standard. Utilizing microwave interrogation of a freely-expanding cloud of laser-cooled atoms, the MCAFS eliminates the two primary sources of uncertainty in existing CSACs, namely buffer gas collisions and the AC Stark (light) shift. Compared to conventional cold atom frequency standards, such as atomic fountain clocks, achieving the required 1000-fold reduction of size and power necessitates considerable simplification of the clock architecture and the development of novel components, fabrication techniques, and operational algorithms.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting November 14 - 17, 2011 Hyatt Regency Long Beach Long Beach, California
Pages:	221 - 230
Cite this article:	Shah, V., Mescher, M., Martins, A., Leblanc, J., Byrne, N., Timmons, B., Stoner, R., Rogamentich, F., Lutwak, R., "A Miniature Cold Atom Frequency Standard," Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Long Beach, California, November 2011, pp. 221-230.
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