| ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS |
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Initial Tests of a Rubidium Space Cold Atom Clock |
| Lin Li, Qiu-Zhi Qu, Bin Wang, Tang Li, Jian-Bo Zhao, Jing-Wei Ji, Wei Ren, Xin Zhao, Mei-Feng Ye, Yuan-Yuan Yao, De-Sheng Lü**, Liang Liu** |
Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Center of Cold Atom Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800
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| Cite this article: |
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Lin Li, Qiu-Zhi Qu, Bin Wang et al 2016 Chin. Phys. Lett. 33 063201 |
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Abstract We report the initial test results of a rubidium ($^{87}$Rb) space cold atom clock (SCAC). The space-qualified $^{87}$Rb SCAC is composed of the physical package, the optical bench, the microwave synthesizer and the control electronics. After the system is integrated, about 10$^{8}$ $^{87}$Rb cold atoms are captured by magneto-optical trap. The linewidth of the Ramsey fringe is about 10 Hz for the free evolution time of 50 ms on the ground, and the signal-to-noise ratio is measured to be larger than 300. We demonstrate a good medium-term fractional frequency stability of $1.5\times10^{-14}$@1000 s in the closed-loop operation on the ground. The main effects of the noise on the stability are also presented, and the optimized operating parameter is analyzed for the operation of SCAC in the microgravity environment.
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Received: 03 February 2016
Published: 30 June 2016
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| PACS: |
32.30.Bv
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(Radio-frequency, microwave, and infrared spectra)
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37.10.De
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(Atom cooling methods)
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07.07.-a
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(General equipment)
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