All-optical microwave frequency standard: a proposal

Author

Cyr, Normand ; Tetu, Michel ; Breton, Marc

Author_Institution

Dept. de Genie Electr., Laval Univ., Sainte-Foy, Que., Canada

Volume

42

Issue

2

fYear

1993

fDate

4/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

640

Lastpage

649

Abstract

A simple method to produce a clock transition with purely optical means by modulated pumping is described. The field-independent ground state resonance of ⁸⁷Rb atoms using sinusoidal modulation of the injection current of an AlGaAs laser diode emitting at 780 nm (FM modulation) is observed. The 6.835 GHz resonance with a subharmonic modulation frequency of 1.139 GHz is detected. A high-contrast resonance peak is observed and a condition for zero light shift is found. The linewidth is 3 kHz (at 6.835 GHz) in this preliminary experiment, due to the small size of the light beam (~2 mm diameter) and the low buffer gas pressure (680 Pa) that was used. A theoretical model that explains the main features of the experiment is described

Keywords

atomic beams; atomic photoexcitation; atomic resonant states; frequency measurement; laser beam applications; measurement standards; microwave measurement; optical modulation; optical pumping; rubidium; 1.139 GHz; 2 mm; 6.835 GHz; 680 Pa; 780 nm; ⁸⁷Rb; AlGaAs laser diode; FM modulation; atomic standard; clock transition; ground state resonance; high-contrast resonance peak; injection current; light beam; linewidth; modulated pumping; optical microwave frequency standard; sinusoidal modulation; subharmonic modulation frequency; theoretical model; Atom optics; Clocks; Frequency modulation; Microwave frequencies; Optical buffering; Optical modulation; Optical pumping; Proposals; Resonance; Stimulated emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.278645

Filename

278645