Radiation Shield Design for Precise Optical Lattice Clocks
Here’s PatSnap Eureka !
Summary
Problems
Optical lattice clocks face challenges in achieving higher accuracy due to the influence of blackbody radiation, particularly because existing radiation shields allow room temperature radiation to leak in through apertures, leading to significant uncertainty in clock transition frequencies.
Innovation solutions
A radiation shield design that considers the geometrical shape of its inner wall surface to minimize the difference in blackbody radiation shifts between mirror and diffuse reflection conditions, using a ray tracing method to calculate and optimize the BBR shift, allowing for reduced uncertainty by assuming perfect diffuse and mirror reflection models.
TRIZ Analysis
Specific contradictions:
General conflict description:
Principle concept:
If a radiation shield with apertures is used to allow atom transport and laser beam passage, then the optical lattice clock can operate, but room temperature radiation leaks into the shield through apertures causing significant blackbody radiation shifts and uncertainty in clock transition frequencies
Why choose this principle:
The patent introduces an intermediary radiation shield structure with specifically designed inner wall surfaces that mediate between the external environment and the atoms. The shield includes reflective surfaces positioned to intercept and redirect blackbody radiation away from the atom region, reducing the direct impact of thermal radiation on clock transition measurements while maintaining operational functionality through apertures.
Principle concept:
If a radiation shield with apertures is used to allow atom transport and laser beam passage, then the optical lattice clock can operate, but room temperature radiation leaks into the shield through apertures causing significant blackbody radiation shifts and uncertainty in clock transition frequencies
Why choose this principle:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the radiation shield's inner wall surfaces, including curvature radius, aperture positioning, and surface orientation angles. By optimizing these parameters, the shield modifies the path and intensity of blackbody radiation reaching the atoms, thereby reducing the blackbody radiation shift from approximately 10^-16 to 10^-18 level while preserving necessary atom transport and laser beam passage.
Application Domain
Data Source
AI summary:
A radiation shield design that considers the geometrical shape of its inner wall surface to minimize the difference in blackbody radiation shifts between mirror and diffuse reflection conditions, using a ray tracing method to calculate and optimize the BBR shift, allowing for reduced uncertainty by assuming perfect diffuse and mirror reflection models.
Abstract
Provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a radiation shield 10 including a shield wall surrounding a hollow region capable of accommodating therein atoms for an optical lattice clock 100, the shield wall having, provided therein, at least two apertures communicating with outside. A geometrical shape of an inner wall surface of the shield wall is configured such that a difference between BBR shifts found under two conditions does not exceed a predetermined value over a range of position of atoms, the BBR shifts being caused in atoms 2 by emitted radiation emitted by the inner wall surface, incoming radiation leaking in from the outside through the apertures, and a reflection component of the emitted radiation and incoming radiation at the inner wall surface, the two conditions being a condition where the inner wall surface exhibits mirror reflection and a condition where the inner wall surface exhibits diffuse reflection, the range being where clock transition operation is carried out in the optical lattice clock, the inner wall surface facing the hollow region. Provided according to other embodiments of the present disclosure also are the optical lattice clock 100 including such a radiation shield, and a design method for the radiation shield.