Light shift suppression with pulsed light detection in magnetic-state-selected cesium beam clocks

Abstract

Light detection is widely used in atomic clocks. The simple detecting structure induces the light shift which influences the clock’s long-term stability. We introduce a new method to suppress light shift by using pulsed light instead of continuous light to detect atomic states. Under a suitable pulsed sequence, the part of the atoms which do not simultaneously interact with light and microwave field are detected. We demonstrate the validity of our approach in a magnetic-state-selected cesium beam clock. Using a well-tuned sequence, the light shift coefficient is reduced by a factor of about 10, in comparison with the continuous light detection scheme. In a clock stability test with extra light power noise, the result shows good immunity of the method to laser power fluctuations. We also analyze the sources of the clock short-term stability degradation, including the Dick effect and the fact that a reduced number of atoms is detected in the pulsed detection case.