Multilambda Rabi cavities in atomic beam frequency standards

Abstract

Multilambda Rabi cavities have been shown to be a viable solution for the reduction of cavity phase shift and other Doppler related effects in atomic beam frequency standards. For this reason they may be advisable to use in devices in which operations that are apt to measure or correct cavity phase shift are impossible or undesirable. These include short sealed (commercial) tubes, possibly some primary standards with vertical beam (because it is not easy to operate an atomic beam directed vertically down), and microgravity clocks. Analytical and numerical results are reported on particular cavity examples. They support the idea that a Ramsey cavity is not always the only solution for guiding microwaves in a beam standard. A comparison of line shapes between experimental results obtained with an atomic beam and numerical calculations is also reported.