A Review of Contemporary Atomic Frequency Standards

Abstract

Atomic frequency standards are used to generate accurate and precise time and frequency, enabling many communications, synchronization, and navigation systems in modern life. GPS and other satellite navigation systems, voice and data telecommunications, and timestamping of financial transactions all rely on precise time and frequency enabled by atomic frequency standards. This review provides a snapshot and outlook of contemporary atomic frequency standards and the applications they enable. We provide a concise summary of the performance and physics of operation of current and future atomic frequency standards. Additionally, examples of emerging frequency standard technologies and prototype demonstrations are presented, with a focus on technologies expected to provide commercial or military utility within the next decade. We include a comparison of performance vs. size and power for current atomic frequency standards, and we compare early prototypes of next-generation frequency standards to current product trends. An empirical relationship between frequency standard performance and product size is developed and discussed. Finally, we provide a mapping between applications and frequency standard technologies.

arXiv comment18 pages, 10 figures. Review article submitted to IEEE. Comments welcome

References in corpus (14)

• Search for New Physics with Atoms and Molecules
• First M87 Event Horizon Telescope Results. II. Array and Instrumentation
• An Optical Lattice Clock with Accuracy and Stability at the $10^{-18}$ Level
• An Integrated-Photonics Optical-Frequency Synthesizer
• A sub-40 mHz linewidth laser based on a silicon single-crystal optical cavity
• Atomic clock performance beyond the geodetic limit
• An ${}^{27}$Al${}^{+}$ quantum-logic clock with systematic uncertainty below $10^{-18}$
• Optical clock intercomparison with $6\times 10^{-19}$ precision in one hour
• JILA SrI Optical Lattice Clock with Uncertainty of $2.0\times 10^{-18}$
• Highly charged ions: optical clocks and applications in fundamental physics
• Ultrastable lasers based on vibration insensitive cavities
• A transportable optical lattice clock with $7\times 10^{-17}$ uncertainty
• Advances in the accuracy, stability, and reliability of the PTB primary fountain clocks
• Non-destructive measurement of the transition probability in a Sr optical lattice clock

Cited by in corpus (2)

• A clock stabilization system for CHIME/FRB Outriggers
• Determination of hyperfine splittings and Landé $g_J$ factors of $5s{}^2{S}_{1/2}$ and $5p{}^2{P}_{1/2,3/2}$ states of ${}^{111,113}$Cd${}^{+}$ for a microwave frequency standard