We demonstrate a precision frequency measurement using a phase-stabilized 120-km

The frequency stability of an atomic fountain clock was significantly improved by employing an ultra-stable local oscillator and increasing the number of atoms detected after the Ramsey interrogation, resulting in a measured Allan deviation of 8.3 × 10(-14)τ(-1/2)). A cryogenic sapphire oscillator using an ultra-low-vibration pulse-tube cryocooler and cryostat, without the need for refilling with liquid helium, was applied as a local oscillator and a frequency reference. High atom number was achieved by the high power of the cooling laser beams and optical pumping to the Zeeman sublevel m(F) = 0 employed for a frequency measurement, although vapor-loaded optical molasses with the simple (001) configuration was used for the atomic fountain clock. The resulting stability is not limited by the Dick effect as it is when a BVA quartz oscillator is used as the local oscillator. The stability reached the quantum projection noise limit to within 11%. Using a combination of a cryocooled sapphire oscillator and techniques to enhance the atom number, the frequency stability of any atomic fountain clock, already established as primary frequency standard, may be improved without opening its vacuum chamber.

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High-contrast coherent population trapping signals were observed on the Cs D1 line by use of a bichromatic linear polarized light (lin‖lin field). A maximum absorption contrast of about 10% was obtained. This was nearly twice as high as that measured with the standard configuration of bichromatic circularly polarized light (σ-σ field). The results are compared with density matrix calculations of 4 and 5 level systems.

A synthesized microwave local oscillator for a cesium atomic frequency standard has been implemented using an ultra-stable oscillator. The oscillator was based on a high Q-factor cryogenic-sapphire-resonator cooled with liquid helium which operates on a Whispering Gallery mode. The cesium hyperfine transition frequency of 9.192 GHz was synthesized from the 10.812 GHz oscillation frequency, chosen because the corresponding mode had the best frequency stability. When compared with a hydrogen maser reference the local oscillator exhibited a fractional frequency stability of 6×10-15 for integration times of 600 to 1200 s at 9.192 GHz, limited only by the cryogenic sapphire oscillator.