A cesium fountain frequency standard: preliminary results

Laser cooling of atoms has opened up new possibilities in the field of atomic frequency standards. A cesium atomic fountain, first proposed by Zacharias in 1953, is now feasible: the atoms, first cooled by six laser beams, are launched upward using laser light, pass once through a microwave cavity, continue their ballistic flight and then fall through the same cavity. The long time between the two microwave interactions leads to a Ramsey resonance much narrower than in conventional Cs clocks using thermal atomic beams. The stability and accuracy of such a cesium fountain are very attractive. The use of diode lasers to cool, launch and detect cesium atoms in a low cesium pressure cell allows the construction of a simple and reliable atomic fountain frequency standard. A fountain frequency standard is now in operation at LPTF. A Ramsey resonance as narrow as 0.8 Hz has been obtained. A few days of continuous operation are routinely obtained. In closed loop operation the fountain frequency standard is continuously monitored against a H maser allowing an evaluation of the accuracy of the device. The short-term frequency stability is about 5.10/sup -13/ /spl tau//sup - 1/2 / limited only by the frequency noise of the microwave source. We intend to present a preliminary evaluation of this new standard with a discussion of the major systematic effects which determine the accuracy. The expected accuracy is expected to be at 10/sup -14/ level. In addition, a description of the whole design of the cesium fountain is presented.<>