Quantum projection noise in an atomic fountain: a high stability cesium frequency standard
Date
1999
Authors
Santarelli, G.
Laurent, P.
Lemonde, P.
Clairon, A.
Mann, A.G.
Chang, S.
Luiten, A.N.
Salomon, C.
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Journal article
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Physical Review Letters, 1999; 82(23):4619-4622
Statement of Responsibility
G. Santarelli, Ph. Laurent, P. Lemonde, and A. Clairon, A. G. Mann, S. Chang, and A. N. Luiten, C. Salomon
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Abstract
We describe the operation of a laser cooled cesium fountain clock in the quantum limited regime. An ultrastable cryogenic sapphire oscillator is used to measure the short-term frequency stability of the fountain as a function of the number of detected atoms N<inf>at</inf>. For N<inf>at</inf> varying from 4 × 10<sup>4</sup> to 6 × 10<sup>5</sup> the Allan standard deviation of the frequency fluctuations is in excellent agreement with the N<inf>at</inf><sup>-1/2</sup> law of atomic projection noise. With 6 × 10<sup>5</sup> atoms, the relative frequency stability is 4 × 10<sup>-14</sup>τ<sup>-1/2</sup>where Τ is the integration time in seconds. This is the best short-term stability ever reported for primary frequency standards, a factor of 5 improvement over previous results. © 1999 The American Physical Society.
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© 1999 The American Physical Society