Ultra-low noise microwave generation with fiber-based optical frequency comb and application to atomic fountain clock

Abstract

We demonstrate the use of a fiber-based femtosecond laser locked onto an ultra-stable optical cavity to generate a low-noise microwave reference signal. Comparison with both a liquid Helium cryogenic sapphire oscillator (CSO) and a Ti:Sapphire-based optical frequency comb system exhibit a stability about $3\times 10^{-15}$ between 1 s and 10 s. The microwave signal from the fiber system is used to perform Ramsey spectroscopy in a state-of-the-art Cesium fountain clock. The resulting clock system is compared to the CSO and exhibits a stability of $3.5\times 10^{-14}{\tau }^{-1/2}$. Our continuously operated fiber-based system therefore demonstrates its potential to replace the CSO for atomic clocks with high stability in both the optical and microwave domain, most particularly for operational primary frequency standards.

3 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Compact, thermal-noise-limited optical cavity for diode laser stabilization at 1 x 10-15
• Long-distance frequency transfer over an urban fiber link using optical phase stabilization
• 86-km optical link with a resolution of 2.10-18 for RF frequency transfer
• Interrogation of caesium atoms in a fountain clock by a femtosecond laser microwave oscillator
• Cryogenic sapphire oscillator with exceptionally high long-term frequency stability

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