Design Concept for the Microwave Interrogation Structure in PARCS

G.J. Dick, W.M. Klipstein, T.P. Heavner, S.R. Jefferts

Abstract:	In this paper we will describe key aspects of the conceptual design of the microwave interrogation structure in the laser-cooled cesium frequency standard that is part of the Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space (PARCS) experiment. The PARCS standard uses balls of cold atoms launched in a pulsed beam configuration. The microwave interrogation will take place in two independent high-Q (~20,000) cavities operated in the TE011 mode. The cavities will be operated off resonance by several line widths, with a resonant structure delivering the microwaves to the two cavities. One persistent problem related to the end-to-end phase shift has been the extreme temperature sensitivity of the phase inside the cavities to that just outside the cavities. The end-to-end phase difference must ultimately be known to around 3 microradians, and stable long enough to allow measurement of the shift as well as to allow normal clock operation. Operating the cavities off-resonance reduces this sensitivity more strongly than reducing the cavity Q.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 34th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting December 3 - 5, 2002 Hyatt Regency Reston Town Center Reston, Virginia
Pages:	333 - 339
Cite this article:	Dick, G.J., Klipstein, W.M., Heavner, T.P., Jefferts, S.R., "Design Concept for the Microwave Interrogation Structure in PARCS," Proceedings of the 34th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Reston, Virginia, December 2002, pp. 333-339.
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