Linear ion trap based atomic frequency standard

Author

Prestage, J.D. ; Janik, G.R. ; Dick, G.J. ; Maleki, L.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

fYear

1990

fDate

11-14 June 1990

Firstpage

270

Lastpage

271

Abstract

An effort to develop a trapped-ion-based fieldable frequency standard with a stability of 4*10/sup -13// square root tau for averaging times tau <10/sup 6/ s is described. To achieve this, a hybrid RF/DC linear ion trap which permits storage of large numbers of ions with reduced susceptibility to the second-order Doppler effect caused by the RF confining fields has been developed. This trap confines ions along a line of nodes of the RF field. The trapping force transverse to the line of nodes is generated by the pondermotive force as in conventional Paul traps, while the axial trapping force is provided by DC electric fields. In preliminary measurements, stabilities of 2*10/sup -12// square root tau have been obtained with a 4-Hz-wide atomic resonance linewidth.<>

Keywords

Doppler effect; atomic clocks; frequency measurement; ion beams; measurement standards; particle traps; 4 Hz; DC electric fields; RF confining fields; RF field; atomic frequency standard; atomic resonance linewidth; axial trapping force; hybrid RF/DC linear ion trap; pondermotive force; second-order Doppler effect; trapping force transverse; Atomic clocks; Clouds; Doppler shift; Electrodes; Frequency; Laboratories; Plasma density; Propulsion; Stability; Standards development;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Precision Electromagnetic Measurements, 1990. CPEM '90 Digest., Conference on

Conference_Location

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CPEM.1990.110019

Filename

110019