Low-drift Zeeman shifted atomic frequency reference

Reed, D.J.; Šibalić, N.; Whiting, D.J.; Kondo, J.M.; Adams, C.S.; Weatherill, K.J.

Abstract

We present a simple method for producing a low-drift atomic frequency reference based upon the Zeeman effect. Our Zeeman Shifted Atomic Reference ‘ZSAR’ is demonstrated to have a tens of GHz tuning range, limited only by the strength of the applied field. ZSAR uses Doppler-free laser spectroscopy in a thermal vapor where the vapor is situated in a large, static, and controllable magnetic field. We use a heated 85Rb vapor cell between a pair of position-adjustable permanent magnets capable of applying magnetic fields up to ∼1 T. To demonstrate the frequency reference we use a spectral feature from the Zeeman shifted D1 line in 85Rb at 795 nm to stabilize a laser to the 7S1/2 → 23P1/2 transition in atomic cesium, which is detuned by approximately 19 GHz from the unperturbed Rb transition. We place an upper bound on the stability of the technique by measuring a 2.5 MHz RMS frequency difference between the two spectral features over a 24 hour period. This versatile method could be adapted easily for use with other atomic species and the tuning range readily increased by applying larger magnetic fields.

Citation

Reed, D., Šibalić, N., Whiting, D., Kondo, J., Adams, C., & Weatherill, K. (2018). Low-drift Zeeman shifted atomic frequency reference. OSA continuum, 1(1), 4-12. https://doi.org/10.1364/osac.1.000004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 29, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Sep 12, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 12, 2018
• Deposit Date: Apr 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 16, 2018
• Journal: OSA continuum.
• Electronic ISSN: 2578-7519
• Publisher: Optica Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 4-12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/osac.1.000004
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1360874
• Related Public URLs: https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.07928