A regularization approach for the determination of the time of flight distribution in the cesium beam standards

In this paper, a new method is presented to directly determine from the shape of a Ramsey pattern the real microwave level present in the cavity of a beam frequency standard. Then a new method to evaluate the atomic time of flight distribution using a regularization approach is presented. In opposition to existing methods, this approach uses only one Ramsey measurement because it allows the incorporation of the a priori information about the time of flight distribution. The validity of this method is confirmed by experimental results.