| Popis: |
We are developing a highly miniaturized trapped ion cl ock to probe the 12.6 GHz hyperfine transition in the 171 Yb + ion. The clock development is being funded by the Integrated Micro Primary Atomic Clock Technology (IMPACT) program from DARPA where the stat ed goals are to develop a clock that consumes 50 mW of power, has a size of 5 cm 3 , and has a long-term frequency stability of 10 -14 at one month. One of the significant challenges will be to develop miniatur e single-frequency lasers at 369 nm and 935 nm and the optical systems to deliver light to the ions and to collect ion fluorescence on a detector. Keywords: Atomic clock, UV lasers, laser spectroscopy, VCSEL 1. INTRODUCTION Precision timing is essential to many aspects of modern technology. It is of particular importance in communication and navigation systems. For example, the global positioning system (GPS) relies on an accurate timing reference located on each GPS satellite to provide the GPS signal. In systems where good long-term stability of the timing reference or clock is re quired (as is required in G PS systems), atomic clocks are used. In an atomic clock, the frequency of the clock signal is stabilized to a transition between two electronic energy levels in an atom or ion. |
