When the cold atom clock operates in microgravity around the near-earth orbit, its performance will be affected by the fluctuation of magnetic field. A strategy is proposed to suppress the fluctuation of magnetic fiel...When the cold atom clock operates in microgravity around the near-earth orbit, its performance will be affected by the fluctuation of magnetic field. A strategy is proposed to suppress the fluctuation of magnetic field by additional coils, whose current is changed accordingly to compensate the magnetic fluctuation by the linear and incremental compensation. The flight model of the cold atom clock is tested in a simulated orbital magnetic environment and the magnetic field fluctuation in the Ramsey cavity is reduced from 17 nT to 2 nT, which implied the uncertainty due to the second order Zeeman shift is reduced to be less than 2×10^（-16）. In addition, utilizing the compensation, the magnetic field in the trapping zone can be suppressed from 7.5 μT to less than 0.3 μT to meet the magnetic field requirement of polarization gradients cooling of atoms.展开更多
The Dick effect is an important factor limiting the frequency stability of sequentially-operating atomic frequency standards. Here we study the impact of the Dick effect in the integrating sphere cold atom clock （IS...The Dick effect is an important factor limiting the frequency stability of sequentially-operating atomic frequency standards. Here we study the impact of the Dick effect in the integrating sphere cold atom clock （ISCAC）. To reduce the impact of the Dick effect, a 5 MHz local oscillator with ultra-low phase noise is selected and a new microwave synthesizer is built in-house. Consequently, the phase noise of microwave signal is optimized. The contribution of the Dick effect is reduced to 2.5× 10^-13τ-1/2 （3- is the integrating time）. The frequency stability of 4.6 × 10-13τ-1/2 is achieved. The development of this optimization can promote the space applications of the compact ISCA C.展开更多
We implement optical pumping to prepare cold atoms in our prototype of the ST Rb space cold atom clock, which operates in the one-way mode. Several modifications are made on our previous physical and optical system. T...We implement optical pumping to prepare cold atoms in our prototype of the ST Rb space cold atom clock, which operates in the one-way mode. Several modifications are made on our previous physical and optical system. The effective atomic signal in the top detection zone is increased to 2.5 times with 87% pumping efficiency. The temperature of the cold atom cloud is increased by 1.4 μK. We study the dependences of the effective signal gain and pumping efficiency on the pumping laser intensity and detuning. The effects of σ transition are discussed. This technique may be used in the future space cold atom clocks.展开更多
We present the long-term stability of the integrating sphere cold atom clock（ISCAC） and analyze its systematic limitations. The relative frequency instability of 2.6 × 10-15 is reached for an averaging time of ...We present the long-term stability of the integrating sphere cold atom clock（ISCAC） and analyze its systematic limitations. The relative frequency instability of 2.6 × 10-15 is reached for an averaging time of 2 ×105 s. The second-order Zeeman effect and the cavity pulling effect in ISCAC, which would induce the frequency drift from the clock transition, are analyzed. The analytical and experimental results indicate that the cavity pulling effect is the main contribution to the long-term frequency instability of the ISCAC. Further technical improvements to the microwave cavity are also discussed.展开更多
基金Project supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(Grant No.2013YQ09094304)the Youth Innovation Promotion Association,Chinese Academy of Sciencesthe National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11034008 and 11274324)
文摘When the cold atom clock operates in microgravity around the near-earth orbit, its performance will be affected by the fluctuation of magnetic field. A strategy is proposed to suppress the fluctuation of magnetic field by additional coils, whose current is changed accordingly to compensate the magnetic fluctuation by the linear and incremental compensation. The flight model of the cold atom clock is tested in a simulated orbital magnetic environment and the magnetic field fluctuation in the Ramsey cavity is reduced from 17 nT to 2 nT, which implied the uncertainty due to the second order Zeeman shift is reduced to be less than 2×10^（-16）. In addition, utilizing the compensation, the magnetic field in the trapping zone can be suppressed from 7.5 μT to less than 0.3 μT to meet the magnetic field requirement of polarization gradients cooling of atoms.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No 11604353the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘The Dick effect is an important factor limiting the frequency stability of sequentially-operating atomic frequency standards. Here we study the impact of the Dick effect in the integrating sphere cold atom clock （ISCAC）. To reduce the impact of the Dick effect, a 5 MHz local oscillator with ultra-low phase noise is selected and a new microwave synthesizer is built in-house. Consequently, the phase noise of microwave signal is optimized. The contribution of the Dick effect is reduced to 2.5× 10^-13τ-1/2 （3- is the integrating time）. The frequency stability of 4.6 × 10-13τ-1/2 is achieved. The development of this optimization can promote the space applications of the compact ISCA C.
基金Supported by the Fund from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China under Grant No 2013YQ09094304the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences
文摘We implement optical pumping to prepare cold atoms in our prototype of the ST Rb space cold atom clock, which operates in the one-way mode. Several modifications are made on our previous physical and optical system. The effective atomic signal in the top detection zone is increased to 2.5 times with 87% pumping efficiency. The temperature of the cold atom cloud is increased by 1.4 μK. We study the dependences of the effective signal gain and pumping efficiency on the pumping laser intensity and detuning. The effects of σ transition are discussed. This technique may be used in the future space cold atom clocks.
基金supported by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciencesthe National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61727821 and 11604353)
文摘We present the long-term stability of the integrating sphere cold atom clock（ISCAC） and analyze its systematic limitations. The relative frequency instability of 2.6 × 10-15 is reached for an averaging time of 2 ×105 s. The second-order Zeeman effect and the cavity pulling effect in ISCAC, which would induce the frequency drift from the clock transition, are analyzed. The analytical and experimental results indicate that the cavity pulling effect is the main contribution to the long-term frequency instability of the ISCAC. Further technical improvements to the microwave cavity are also discussed.
