Ramsey Coherent Population Trapping Research Articles

Simultaneous observation of semi-continuous and Ramsey-coherent population trapping resonances using the Ramsey pulse sequence with drive current modulation

In this study, we proposed a method to observe the semi-cw excited coherent population trapping (SCW-CPT) and the Ramsey-CPT resonance during a Ramsey pulse sequence. By simultaneously observing the Ramsey-CPT and SCW-CPT resonances, which have distinct light shift coefficients, it is easy to detect light shift from the resonance frequency ratio of these two atomic resonances. Experimental results demonstrated the capability of the proposed method to simultaneously observe both the Ramsey-CPT and SCW-CPT resonances. The frequency difference attributable to the light shift was 308.9 Hz, indicating the successful detection of the light shift. Long-term measurements revealed that the frequency drift rates of the two atomic resonances differ by a factor of 3.5, and the variation in the frequency ratio enabled the detection of fluctuations in these two resonance frequencies.

Light shift of Ramsey coherent population trapping resonance using drive current modulation

We investigated the light shift of Ramsey coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance by drive current modulation (DCM), which can be realized with low power consumption in a small system, to improve the performance of a CPT atomic clock. The light shift makes the greatest contribution to the degradation of long-term frequency stability of a CPT atomic clock. We also devised digitizer-based DCM to reduce the uncertainty in the frequency of light shift due to wavelength variation at the time of observation. The results show that light shift with DCM is reduced compared with cw excitation and is consistent with theoretical calculations. The estimated frequency uncertainty of the light shift due to wavelength variation using the proposed method is 2.1 × 10−13, which is approximately 165 times better than that of the conventional method without a digitizer, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method for future small atomic clocks.

Analytical function study of Ramsey-CPT interference fringe with experimental verification

In this study, the difference detection magnetic optical rotation (MOR) Ramsey-coherent population trapping (CPT) interference fringe signal was taken as the object for research. By solving the optical Bloch equations, the analytic function solution was obtained. An experimental platform was also used to obtain the MOR Ramsey-CPT interference fringe signal experimentally. The experimental results match the results for the calculation of the analytic function. Use of the analytic function solution is convenient and effective for studying the Ramsey-CPT interference phenomenon.

Suppression of Dick Effect in Ramsey-CPT Atomic Clock by Interleaving Lock.

The Dick effect is one of the main limitations of short-term frequency stability for most atomic clocks operating in the pulsed mode. Rather than employing better local oscillators with ultralow phase noise, using the interleaving lock technique to eliminate the dead time is a promising approach to suppress the Dick effect. In this paper, we demonstrate the suppression of the Dick effect by the interleaving lock technique in a pulsed Ramsey-coherent population trapping clock with two identical Cs atomic ensembles. The Dick effect is expected to be reduced by a factor of 24 theoretically. The measured short-term Allan deviation is improved from at 1 s to at 1 s. What is even more remarkable is that the Allan deviation curve exhibits slope from 0.01 to 2 s.

Investigation of Ramsey spectroscopy in a lin-par-lin Ramsey coherent population trapping clock with dispersion detection.

We demonstrate that the lin-par-lin Ramsey coherent population trapping 87Rb clock using a dispersion detection technique has a promising performance. We theoretically and experimentally investigate the signal-to-noise ratio of the Ramsey spectrum signal by varying the relative angle of the polarizer and analyzer as well as the magnetic field. Based on the experimental results, the optimized relative angle and magnetic field are determined. This kind of atomic clock is attractive for the development of compact, high performance vapor clock based on CPT.

Ramsey-CPT spectrum with the Faraday effect and its application to atomic clocks**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11304362 and 11204351).

A method that obtains the Ramsey-coherent population trapping (CPT) spectrum with the Faraday effect is investigated. An experiment is implemented to detect the light polarization components generated from the Faraday effect. The experimental results agree with the theoretical calculations based on the Liouville equation. By comparing with the method without using the Faraday effect, the potential of this method for a CPT-based atomic clock is assessed. The results indicate that this method should improve the short-term frequency stability by several times.

Two-step pulse observation for Raman–Ramsey coherent population trapping atomic clocks

We propose a two-step pulse observation method to enhance the frequency stability of coherent population trapping (CPT) atomic clocks. The proposed method is a Raman–Ramsey scheme with low light intensity at resonance observation and provides a Ramsey-CPT resonance with both reduced frequency sensitivity to the light intensity and a high signal-to-noise ratio by reducing the repumping into a steady dark state. The resonance characteristics were calculated using density matrix analysis of a Λ-type three-level system that was modeled on the 133Cs D1 line, and the characteristics were also measured using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser and a Cs vapor cell.

Theoretical and experimental investigation of the light shift in Ramsey coherent population trapping

The ac Stark shift (or light shift) of the 6$^{2}$S$_{1/2}$ (F $=$ 3 $\leftrightarrow $ 4) transition in $^{133}$Cs, as observed through coherent population trapping under pulsed excitation, is measured using a $^{133}$Cs gas cell and the $D_1$-line vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. This light shift can be calculated using density-matrix analysis. We derive an expression for this shift as a function of light intensity, showing that it varies linearly with respect to light intensity only with intensities higher than 1.0~mW/cm$^2$. For pulsed excitation of high laser intensity, the variation in light shift is 20 times lower than that when using a continuous wave. The differences between the results of theory and experiment are discussed, taking into account the difference in conditions assumed; the results from theoretical analysis, taking the attenuation of the first-order sideband into account, approximately agree with the experimental results. The light shift is reduced by shortening the observation times.

Exploring Ramsey-coherent population trapping atomic clock realized with pulsed microwave modulated laser

A scheme for a Ramsey-coherent population trapping (CPT) atomic clock that eliminates the acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is proposed and experimentally studied. Driven by a periodically microwave modulated current, the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser emits a continuous beam that switches between monochromatic and multichromatic modes. Ramsey-CPT interference has been studied with this mode-switching beam. In eliminating the AOM, which is used to generate pulsed laser in conventional Ramsey-CPT atomic clock, the physics package of the proposed scheme is virtually the same as that of a conventional compact CPT atomic clock, although the resource budget for the electronics will slightly increase as a microwave switch should be added. By evaluating and comparing experimentally recorded signals from the two Ramsey-CPT schemes, the short-term frequency stability of the proposed scheme was found to be 46% better than the scheme with AOM. The experimental results suggest that the implementation of a compact Ramsey-CPT atomic clock promises better frequency stability.