Design and metrological features of microwave synthesizers for atomic fountain frequency standard

Damien Chambon; Michel Lours; Frederic Chapelet; Sebastien Bize; Michael E Tobar; Andre Clairon; Giorgio Santarelli

doi:10.1109/tuffc.2007.306

Design and metrological features of microwave synthesizers for atomic fountain frequency standard

IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2007 Apr;54(4):729-35. doi: 10.1109/tuffc.2007.306.

Authors

Damien Chambon¹, Michel Lours, Frederic Chapelet, Sebastien Bize, Michael E Tobar, Andre Clairon, Giorgio Santarelli

Affiliation

¹ Laboratoire National d'Essais-Systèmes de Référence Temps-Espace (LNE-SYRTE), CNRS-UMR8630, Observatoire de Paris, 61, Av de l'Observatoire, Paris, France.

PMID: 17441582
DOI: 10.1109/tuffc.2007.306

Abstract

In this paper we describe the improved redesign of the microwave frequency synthesizers for Laboratoire National d'Essais-Systèmes de Référence Temps-Espace (LNE-SYRTE) atomic fountains. The synthesizers use a cryogenic oscillator to generate both Cs and Rb hyperfine frequencies based on a new distribution frequency of 1 GHz. The main metrological features (phase noise, long-term phase stability, and spectral purity) of the synthesizers have been measured in situ connected to an atomic fountain and are compatible with an accuracy goal of 10(-16) for the atomic fountains. The simultaneous test of two different synthesizers on the FO2 atomic fountain at the 10(-16) level also is reported.

Publication types

Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

Electronics*
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis
France
Microwaves*
Oscillometry / instrumentation*
Oscillometry / methods
Oscillometry / standards*
Reference Standards
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation*
Time Factors*
Transducers*