Continuous beams of cold atoms for space applications
- Thomann, P. Observatoire de Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Plimmer, M. METAS, Federal Office of Metrology, 3003 Bern-Wabern, Switzerland
- Di Domenico, Gianni FRAP, Physics Dept., University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
- Castagna, N. Observatoire de Paris, LNE-SYRTE, 75014 Paris, France
- Guéna, J. ENS – Laboratoire Kastler Brossel (UMR8552 CNRS), Paris, France
- Dudle, G. METAS, Federal Office of Metrology, 3003 Bern-Wabern, Switzerland
- Füzesi, F. Observatoire de Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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26.08.2006
Published in:
- Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics. - 2006, vol. 84, no. 4, p. 659-662
English
The precision of atomic state measurements should ideally be limited by irreducible fluctuations associated with the number of atoms available, e.g. shot noise or quantum projection noise. In practice, other noise sources can limit the precision achievable; a well-known effect is the intermodulation effect, or Dick effect, which degrades the stability of atomic fountain clocks using pulsed sources. One way to beat this source of instability consists of interrogating the atoms with a microwave signal derived from exceptionally stable local oscillators, such as cryogenic oscillators, which are however bulky and not ideally suited to the constraints of space. Another way of reaching atomic-noise limited instability is to use continuous sources of cold atoms. Experimental results obtained both on a fountain standard and on an experimental Cs fountain illustrate the potential of continuous cold atomic beams for improving signal-to-noise ratio and precision of measurement. Current developments towards higher atomic beam flux are also described.
- Faculty
- Faculté des sciences et de médecine
- Department
- Département de Physique
- Language
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- English
- Classification
- Physics
- License
- License undefined
- Identifiers
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- RERO DOC 6177
- DOI 10.1007/s00340-006-2398-4
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/300150
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