THE JPL TRAPPED ION FREQUENCY STANDARD DEVELOPMENT

J.D. Prestage, G.J. Dick, L. Maleki

Abstract:	Mercury 199 Ions are confined in an RF trap and state-selected by use of optical pumping with 194 nm UV light from a 202Hg discharge lamp. Absorption of microwave radiation at the hyperfine frequency (40.5 GHz) is signaled by atomic fluorescence of the UV light. The frequency of a 40.5 GHz oscillator is locked to a 1.6 Hz wide atomic absorption line of the trapped ions. The measured Allan variance of this locked Oscillator is currently og(r) = 4,4 x 10-13/VF for 20 << 320 seconds, indicating better short term stability than the best commercial cesium standards by almost a factor of two. This first result was achieved without magnetic shielding and without regulation of ion number.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 19th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting December 1 - 3, 1989 Sheraton Hotel Redondo Beach, California
Pages:	285 - 297
Cite this article:	Prestage, J.D., Dick, G.J., Maleki, L., "THE JPL TRAPPED ION FREQUENCY STANDARD DEVELOPMENT," Proceedings of the 19th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Redondo Beach, California, December 1987, pp. 285-297.
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