Atomic oscillator

Abstract

To solve a problem that it is difficult to detect abnormalities in atomic oscillators.SOLUTION: An atomic oscillator 100 includes a gas cell 101 having alkali metal atoms encapsulated therein, a light generating unit 102 for irradiating the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components, a light detecting unit 103 for detecting transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell, and a control unit 104 that determines the resonance frequency of the irradiation light based on the amount of the detected transmitted light and controls the oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency. The control unit 104 determines the state of the atomic oscillator based on a control signal that is output when controlling the oscillation frequency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to atomic oscillators. [Background technology]

[0002] Atomic oscillators that oscillate based on the energy transition of atoms of alkali metals are known as oscillators with long-term high-precision oscillation characteristics. In atomic oscillators, the resonance frequency is determined by detecting the amount of transmitted light of light irradiated onto the atoms, and the oscillation frequency is controlled based on this. In atomic oscillators, it is necessary to improve the stability of the oscillation frequency, and for example, Patent Document 1 describes a method of feeding back the detection result of transmitted light. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-065148 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Here, when an abnormality occurs in the oscillation frequency of the atomic oscillator, the stability of the oscillation frequency is improved by performing initialization including determination of the resonance frequency. However, in order to detect an abnormality in the oscillation frequency, a more stable external oscillation source is required. This causes a problem that it is difficult to detect an abnormality in the atomic oscillator.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide an atomic oscillator that can solve the above-mentioned problem that it is difficult to detect an abnormality in the atomic oscillator. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The atomic oscillator according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control unit that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light, and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; Equipped with The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. The structure is as follows. In addition, a control method according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control unit that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light, and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; A method for controlling an atomic oscillator comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. The structure is as follows. Moreover, a control device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control device that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; The control device for an atomic oscillator comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. The structure is as follows. In addition, a program according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control device that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; The control device of the atomic oscillator is provided with: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Execute the process, The structure is as follows. Effect of the Invention

[0007] By being configured as described above, the present disclosure can easily detect an abnormality in an atomic oscillator. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an atomic oscillator according to the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a process performed by an atomic oscillator. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a process performed by an atomic oscillator. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a process performed by an atomic oscillator. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a process performed by an atomic oscillator. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart showing a processing operation performed by the atomic oscillator. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second atomic oscillator according to the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] <Embodiment 1> A first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, which may be relevant to any of the embodiments.

[0010] [composition] First, an outline of an atomic oscillator will be described. An atomic oscillator is a device that realizes stable frequency oscillation using atomic gas such as alkali metal atoms. An atomic oscillator has a gas cell in which atomic gas is sealed, and by irradiating the gas cell with light containing at least two different frequencies and measuring the transmitted light, the quantum interference effect (called CPT (Coherent Population Trapping) resonance) that occurs when the transition frequency between specific quantum states of the atomic gas matches the difference frequency of the irradiated light can be detected as a fluctuation in the amount of transmitted light. Figure 2 is a diagram of CPT resonance that appears in the transmitted light spectrum. For example, if the transmitted light spectrum is measured when the transmitted light of cesium atoms is detected while sweeping the difference frequency of the irradiated light, the amount of transmitted light reaches a peak value when the difference frequency matches the transition frequency between specific quantum states, as shown in Figure 2 (2-1), and CPT resonance is detected. The difference frequency of the irradiated light at this time is called the resonance frequency. By detecting the resonance frequency of the CPT resonance and controlling the difference frequency of the irradiated light to match the transition frequency between specific quantum states, a high-precision atomic oscillator that utilizes the quantum interference effect is realized. In the atomic oscillator using the above-mentioned CPT method, the resonant frequency of the CPT resonance is used as the reference for the oscillation frequency.

[0011] The transmitted light spectrum is expressed as a Lorentzian function centered on the transition frequency between quantum states, and the point at which the amount of transmitted light is maximized is generally taken as the resonant frequency of the CPT resonance and used as the reference for the oscillation frequency. As an example, by sweeping the difference frequency of the light irradiated when the atomic oscillator is started, an error signal of the transmitted light spectrum as shown in the schematic diagram in Figure 2 (2-2) can be obtained, and the zero-crossing point of the error signal can be taken as the resonant frequency and used as the reference for the oscillation frequency. The error signal of the transmitted light spectrum can be obtained, for example, by modulating the difference frequency with a reference frequency with a shorter period than the sweep period of the difference frequency when sweeping the difference frequency of the irradiated light, and locking in detection of the detected amount of transmitted light with the reference frequency.

[0012] In the atomic oscillator, after detecting the resonance frequency by the zero crossing point as described above as an initialization process, the zero crossing point is constantly monitored, and the deviation from the zero crossing point is fed back to the control signal of the oscillator, thereby improving the stability of the output frequency as shown by symbol A in FIG. 3(3-2). On the other hand, if the resonance signal becomes small relative to the noise level, as shown in FIG. 3(3-1), a point without a resonance signal may be monitored as a zero crossing point. Then, as shown by symbol B in FIG. 3(3-2), the output frequency may fluctuate significantly, resulting in an abnormal state. Such an abnormal state can be detected by monitoring the output frequency, but a more reliable external oscillation source is required for monitoring, which is difficult to realize.

[0013] Therefore, in the present disclosure, the state of the atomic oscillator is determined by monitoring a signal other than the output frequency described above. The configuration of the atomic oscillator will be described below.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 1, the atomic oscillator includes a light generating unit 1, a magnetic field applying unit 2, a gas cell 3 in which alkali metal atoms or the like are sealed in a gaseous state, a light detecting unit 4, a control unit 5, an oscillator 6, and a multiplier 7. Here, the control unit 5 is configured as an information processing device including a calculation device and a storage device. As shown in Fig. 1, the control unit 5 includes a frequency control unit 51 and a state determination unit 52 that are constructed by the calculation device executing a program.

[0015] The light generating unit 1 generates light having at least two different frequencies. The irradiated light generated by the light generating unit 1 is irradiated onto the gas cell 3, and the transmitted light transmitted through the gas cell 3 reaches the light detecting unit 4 where it is detected, converted into an electric signal or the like, and sent to the control device 5. The light generating unit 1 is configured to control the wavelength of the generated light, the light intensity for each frequency component, and the difference frequency based on a control signal from the control device 5, as described below.

[0016] The irradiated light, which is the light generated from the light generating unit 1, has at least two different frequency components. The light emitted from the light generating unit 1 may have three or more different frequency components, but the difference frequency between two of these frequency components is approximately equal to the transition frequency between specific quantum states that form the CPT resonance of the alkali metal atom. For example, the light generated from the light generating unit 1 is realized by modulating the single-wavelength light oscillated from a semiconductor laser or the like with a frequency approximately equal to the same as the transition frequency of the alkali metal atom or 1 / N times the frequency, where N is an integer, to generate a sideband. At this time, the control of the difference frequency is realized by a mechanism that controls the modulation frequency. Alternatively, the light generated from the light generating unit 1 can also be realized by multiplexing two single-wavelength lights oscillated from two semiconductor lasers or the like having a mechanism that controls the difference frequency.

[0017] The magnetic field application device 2 generates a magnetic field M in a direction parallel or anti-parallel to the irradiated light at a predetermined position inside the gas cell 3. The magnetic field application device 2 is, for example, a coil arranged to cover the gas cell 3, and by adjusting the direction and magnitude of a current applied to the coil, control of the direction and strength of the static magnetic field applied to the predetermined position inside the gas cell 3 is realized.

[0018] The gas cell 3 is filled with alkali metal atoms. The alkali metal atoms filled in the gas cell 3 may be, for example, cesium atoms, rubidium atoms, sodium atoms, or potassium atoms. The material constituting the container of the gas cell 3 is preferably a transparent material such as glass having a high transmittance of the irradiated light generated from the light generating unit 1. In addition to the alkali metal atoms, the gas cell 3 may be filled with a buffer gas that does not contribute to the absorption of the irradiated light in order to reduce the effect of the collision between the container wall and the gaseous alkali metal atoms. In addition, the gas cell 3 may include a temperature control device that does not block the optical path of the irradiated light in order to control the saturated vapor pressure of the gaseous alkali metal atoms. For example, the temperature control device is composed of a resistance heater.

[0019] The light detection unit 4 has a device for detecting transmitted light, which is light that has passed through the gas cell 3. The light detection unit 4 is realized, for example, by using a photodiode, but can also be realized by a photodetector that is a light detection means. Information on the light detected by the light detection unit 4 is converted into an electric signal or the like and input to the control device 6.

[0020] The frequency control unit 51 included in the control device 5 determines the resonance frequency from the amount of transmitted light input from the light detection unit 4 as described above as an initialization process at the time of starting up the atomic oscillator, and controls the oscillation frequency by the oscillation device 6 based on the determined resonance frequency. Specifically, the frequency control unit 51 sweeps the difference frequency of the irradiated light, determines the resonance frequency from the transmitted light spectrum, and adjusts the control voltage of the oscillation device 6 so that the error signal of the transmitted light spectrum detected by lock-in detection is at a predetermined signal level after determining the resonance frequency once. Here, the oscillation device 6 is composed of a VCXO (Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscillator) that oscillates at about 10 MHz, generates an oscillation signal according to the control voltage output from the frequency control unit 51 and applied, and outputs it as the oscillation frequency that is the external output of the atomic oscillator. As a result, the oscillation frequency is stabilized at 10 MHz as long as the resonance frequency does not change. In addition, the difference frequency of the irradiated light is generated by converting the oscillation signal of the VCXO into a signal of several GHz by the multiplier 7, and is input to the light generation unit 1.

[0021] The state determination unit 52 included in the control device 5 acquires the control signal of the oscillation device 6 output from the frequency control unit 51, and determines the state of the atomic oscillator based on the control signal. Specifically, the frequency control unit 51 acquires the control voltage to be output to the oscillation device 6, and determines the state of the atomic oscillator according to the change in the control voltage. Here, FIG. 4(4-1) shows the change over time of the output frequency of the oscillation signal output from the oscillation device 6, and FIG. 4(4-2) shows the change over time of the control voltage of the oscillation device 6. The time elapsed on the horizontal axis in FIG. 4(4-1) and (4-2) is almost the same time, and FIG. 4(4-1) shows the state when the output frequency of the symbol A changes from a stable state to an abnormal state as described above. Then, when the change over time of the control voltage of the oscillation device 6 in FIG. 4(4-2) is seen, as in FIG. 4(4-1), when the output frequency is stable, the control voltage is also stable as shown by the symbol A', and when the output frequency changes suddenly, the control voltage also changes suddenly as shown by the symbol B'. For this reason, by detecting a sudden change in the control voltage of the oscillator 6 as an abnormal state, it is possible to detect that the output frequency is in an abnormal state, and it is possible to determine that the atomic oscillator is in an abnormal state.

[0022] The state determination unit 52 detects an abnormal state of the control voltage by constantly acquiring the control voltage of the oscillator 6 at regular time intervals and examining the fluctuation of the acquired control voltage with respect to past values. As an example, the state determination unit 52 examines the amount of fluctuation f(t) of the control voltage value y(t) from the immediately previous time point (t-1) to the present (t) as shown in the following formula 1, and detects an abnormal state if the amount of such fluctuation exceeds a preset threshold value.

number

[0023] As another example, the state determination unit 52 acquires the control voltage of the oscillator 6 at regular time intervals, holds the values ​​for a certain period, calculates a preset statistical value of past values, and detects an abnormal state using the statistical value. As one example, the state determination unit 52 detects an abnormal state when the amount of fluctuation g(t) of the current (t) value relative to the statistical value of past values ​​exceeds a preset threshold value. For example, the state determination unit 52 first calculates the average value of the control voltage for the most recent nine points ((t-1) to (t-9)) in the past, as shown in the following formula 2.

number

number

[0024] As another example, the state determination unit 52 acquires the control voltage of the oscillator 6 at regular time intervals, holds the value for a certain period, calculates a preset statistical value of the past values, and For example, as shown in the following formula 4, the state determination unit 52 calculates the variance h(t) of the control voltage value (y(t)) of the most recent nine points ((t) to (t-9)) including the current value (t), and detects an abnormal state when the value of the variance h(t) changes significantly, for example, exceeding a preset threshold value.

number

[0025] When the state determination unit 52 detects an abnormal state of the control voltage as described above, it determines that the output frequency is abnormal and that the atomic oscillator is abnormal, and outputs an alert to notify the determination result. For example, the state determination unit 52 may be configured to output an alert to a control device of a device in which the atomic oscillator is mounted, and in response, the control device of the device may execute a preset process when it receives the alert.

[0026] Furthermore, when the state determination unit 52 determines that the atomic oscillator is in an abnormal state, the state determination unit 52 may perform an initialization process for the atomic oscillator itself. The initialization process is a process performed when the atomic oscillator is started, and is a process for sweeping the frequency of the excitation light to determine the resonance frequency as described above.

[0027] [Operation] Next, the operation of the above-mentioned atomic oscillator will be described. First, as an initialization process when the atomic oscillator is started, the control device 5 sweeps the difference frequency of the excitation light generated by the light generating unit 1 within a predetermined range, and determines the resonance frequency from the amount of transmitted light detected by the light detecting unit 4. Then, the control device 5 controls the oscillation frequency of the oscillation device 6 based on the determined resonance frequency by the frequency control unit 51 (step S1 in FIG. 6).

[0028] Then, once the resonant frequency is determined, the frequency control unit 51 adjusts the control voltage of the oscillator 6 so that the error signal of the transmission light spectrum detected by lock-in detection is at a predetermined signal level. At this time, the state determination unit 52 records the value of the control voltage of the oscillator 6 by the frequency control unit 51 (step S2 in FIG. 6) and calculates the amount of fluctuation of the control voltage value (step S3 in FIG. 6). For example, the state determination unit 52 calculates, as the amount of fluctuation of the control voltage value, the amount of fluctuation f(t) of the control voltage value y(t) from the immediately previous time point (t-1) in the past to the present (t), the amount of fluctuation g(t) of the control voltage value y(t) at the present (t) relative to the average value for a predetermined period in the past, the variance h(h) for the predetermined period, and the like.

[0029] Then, when the amount of fluctuation as described above is within the allowable range, such as not exceeding a preset threshold (Yes in step S4 of FIG. 6), the state determination unit 52 adjusts the control voltage of the oscillator 6 as it is (step S5 of FIG. 6) so that the oscillation frequency can be stably output. On the other hand, when the amount of fluctuation as described above is not within the allowable range, such as exceeding a preset threshold (No in step S4 of FIG. 6), the state determination unit 52 determines that the oscillation frequency of the oscillator 6 is in an abnormal state and that the atomic oscillator is in an abnormal state, and issues an alert (step S6 of FIG. 6). Then, when the state determination unit 52 determines that the atomic oscillator is in an abnormal state, it performs an initialization process of the atomic oscillator itself, and sweeps the frequency of the excitation light as described above to determine the resonance frequency again (return to step S1 of FIG. 6).

[0030] As described above, according to the atomic oscillator of the present disclosure, the control voltage, which is the control signal for the oscillation device 6 output from the frequency control section 51, is obtained, and an abnormality in the output frequency is detected based on the control voltage, thereby making it possible to determine the state of the atomic oscillator. Therefore, the state of the atomic oscillator can be easily determined without monitoring the output frequency of the atomic oscillator.

[0031] In the above, the state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on the control voltage of the oscillator 6, but the state of the atomic oscillator may be determined based on other control signals for the oscillator 6, not limited to the control voltage. Furthermore, the state of the atomic oscillator may be determined based on control signals output when controlling the oscillation frequency for other devices mounted on the atomic oscillator, not limited to the control signals for the oscillator 6. In this case, since the control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency is considered to correspond to the state of the output frequency, it is possible to determine an abnormality in the output frequency, i.e., an abnormal state of the atomic oscillator, in the same manner as described above, by using such control signal.

[0032] <Embodiment 2> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 7, the atomic oscillator 100 in this embodiment has: A gas cell 101 containing alkali metal atoms; a light generating unit 102 for irradiating the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit 103 for detecting transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control unit 104 that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; Equipped with The control unit 104 judges the state of the atomic oscillator based on the control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. It is structured as follows.

[0034] In this way, the atomic oscillator can obtain the control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency, and can determine the state of the atomic oscillator based on the control signal. Therefore, the state of the atomic oscillator can be easily determined.

[0035] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by a person skilled in the art can be made to the configuration of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0036] <Additional Notes> A part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as follows: The following provides an overview of the configuration of the atomic oscillator and the control method according to the present disclosure. However, the present invention is not limited to the following configuration.

[0037] (Appendix 1) a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control unit that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light, and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; Equipped with The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Atomic oscillator. (Appendix 2) 2. The atomic oscillator according to claim 1, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator based on a control signal for a device mounted on the atomic oscillator, the control signal being output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Atomic oscillator. (Appendix 3) 3. The atomic oscillator according to claim 2, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator based on a control voltage for an oscillation device that oscillates in response to an applied voltage, the control voltage being output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Atomic oscillator. (Appendix 4) An atomic oscillator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator according to a change in a value based on the control signal. Atomic oscillator. (Appendix 5) 5. The atomic oscillator according to claim 4, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator according to a change in the control signal relative to a past value of the control signal. Atomic oscillator. (Appendix 6) 5. The atomic oscillator according to claim 4, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator according to a fluctuation in a statistical value of the value of the control signal over a predetermined period of time. Atomic oscillator. (Appendix 7) a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control unit that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light, and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; A method for controlling an atomic oscillator comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Control methods. (Appendix 8) 8. The control method according to claim 7, further comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control voltage for an oscillation device that oscillates in response to an applied voltage, the control voltage being output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Control methods. (Appendix 9) 8. The control method according to claim 7, further comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal for a device mounted on the atomic oscillator, the control signal being output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Control methods. (Appendix 10) A control method according to any one of Supplementary Notes 7 to 9, determining a state of the atomic oscillator according to a change in a value based on the control signal; Control methods. (Appendix 11) 11. The control method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining a state of the atomic oscillator in response to a variation of the control signal relative to a past value of the control signal; Control methods. (Appendix 12) 11. The control method according to claim 10, further comprising: determining a state of the atomic oscillator according to a fluctuation in a statistical value of the value of the control signal in a predetermined period of time; Control methods. (Appendix 13) a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control device that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; The control device for an atomic oscillator comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Control device. (Appendix 14) a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control device that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; The control device of the atomic oscillator is provided with: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. A program for executing a process. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1 Light generating unit 2 Magnetic field application device 3 Gas Cell 4. Light detection section 5. Control device 51 Frequency Control Section 52 Status determination unit 6. Oscillator 7 Multiplier 100 Atomic Oscillator 101 Gas Cell 102 Light generating unit 103 Light detection unit 104 Control section

Claims

1. a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control unit that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light, and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; Equipped with The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Atomic oscillator.

2. 2. The atomic oscillator according to claim 1, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator based on a control signal for a device mounted on the atomic oscillator, the control signal being output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Atomic oscillator.

3. 3. The atomic oscillator according to claim 2, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator based on a control voltage for an oscillation device that oscillates in response to an applied voltage, the control voltage being output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Atomic oscillator.

4. 2. The atomic oscillator according to claim 1, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator according to a change in a value based on the control signal. Atomic oscillator.

5. 5. The atomic oscillator according to claim 4, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator according to a change in the control signal relative to a past value of the control signal. Atomic oscillator.

6. 5. The atomic oscillator according to claim 4, The control unit determines a state of the atomic oscillator according to a fluctuation in a statistical value of the value of the control signal over a predetermined period of time. Atomic oscillator.

7. a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control unit that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light, and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; A method for controlling an atomic oscillator comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Control methods.

8. 8. The control method according to claim 7, A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control voltage for an oscillation device that oscillates in response to an applied voltage, the control voltage being output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Control methods.

9. a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control device that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; The control device for an atomic oscillator comprising: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. Control device.

10. a gas cell in which alkali metal atoms are sealed; a light generating unit that irradiates the gas cell with irradiation light having at least two different frequency components; a light detection unit that detects transmitted light that has passed through the gas cell; a control device that determines a resonance frequency of the irradiated light based on the detected amount of the transmitted light and controls an oscillation frequency based on the determined resonance frequency; The control device of the atomic oscillator is provided with: A state of the atomic oscillator is determined based on a control signal output when controlling the oscillation frequency. A program for executing a process.

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