Constructing the next generation cryogenic sapphire oscillator

This work describes the next generation cryogenic sapphire oscillator designed and constructed at the University of Western Australia (UWA), for the PHARAO project developed by the Centre National d´Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and BNM-SYTRE (bureau national de metrologie-systemes de reference temps espace.) The oscillator has now been transported and installed in CNES, Toulouse. It will function as the interrogation oscillator of the prototype and space versions of the PHARAO Cs atomic clock, for all pre-launch ground based tests.