Rubidium atomic microwave clock based on Faraday laser pumping

Abstract

The invention discloses a rubidium atomic microwave clock based on Faraday laser pumping. By using a Faraday external cavity laser technique with wavelength operated on a rubidium atomic transition spectral line, frequency of output laser is homogenized through high frequency modulation and applied to a pumping source of a rubidium atomic microwave clock so as to obtain a rubidium atomic microwaveclock based on Faraday laser pumping, wherein wavelength of laser generated by a Faraday laser unit is capable of highly stably operating on the rubidium atomic transition spectral line and is insensitive to operating current and temperature of a laser tube; the rubidium atomic microwave clock uses Faraday laser as pumping light, the operating mode that a traditional laser pumped rubidium atomicmicrowave clock requires a servo locking circuit system to stabilize the frequency during laser pumping is subverted, the international problems in laser loss of lock related to laser frequency stabilization are thoroughly solved, and long-term continuous reliable operation is available within a lifetime of the laser tube.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of microwave atomic clocks and microwave frequency standards, in particular to a rubidium atomic microwave clock based on Faraday laser pumping. Background technique [0002] As a secondary frequency standard, the bubble-type rubidium atomic microwave clock has the advantages of small size, low power consumption, low cost, and high reliability. It is widely used in satellite navigation, time synchronization, network communication and other fields. The traditional optically pumped rubidium atomic clock uses an electrodeless discharge lamp as the pumping light source, which has a wide spectral range and complex spectral line components, resulting in more background noise received by the detector, which seriously reduces the signal-to-noise ratio. At the same time, the pumping efficiency is low, and the effective utilization rate of atoms is only a few per thousand. [0003] With the rapid development and wide...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The addition of these modules increases the structural complexity, volume and reliability of the laser-pumped rubidium atomic microwave clock system.

[0004] The more serious technical difficulty that has not yet been overcome is that the frequency-stabilized laser is sensitive to the temperature of the external environment and mechanical vibration, and it will inevitably lose lock and mode-hop during long-term work, which limits the continuous working time

Due to this limitation, no commercial products of laser-pumped rubidium atomic clocks have been launched in the world so far. At present, research institutions in various countries have only realized prototypes of laser-pumped rubidium atomic clocks in laboratories.

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