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The development of atomic frequency standards at NIST is discussed and three of the key frequency-standard technologies of the current era are described. For each of these technologies, the most […]

We describe the construction and operation of a simple, compact, and cost effective Michelson wavemeter with picometer accuracy. The low cost of the device means that it can form the basis of an undergraduate laboratory experiment, yet it is sufficiently reliable and accurate that it has become an important tool in our research laboratory, where it is regularly used to tune lasers to atomic transitions. The usefulness and accuracy of the wavemeter is demonstrated by tuning two separate extended cavity diode lasers to achieve two-step excitation of the Rb [5.sup.2]D state, observed by detecting 420 nm blue fluorescence from the [5.sup.2]D [approaches] [6.sup.2]P [approaches] [5.sup.2]S decay path.

A local oscillator for laser-pumped gas-cell rubidium frequency standards was described. The effects caused by noise in the microwave and laser sources were reduced to achieve a frequency stability of one order of magnitude better than other lamp-pumped devices. The short-term frequency stability was affected by the phase modulation noise in the microwave synthesizer, the photocurrent noise on the detector and the combined effect on laser frequency noise with light shift.

A new concept which uses notch filters at the sidebands reduces the local oscillator phase noise on the frequency stability of passive frequency standards. Quartz resonators are used to construct the required notch filters for passive rubidium standards. These filters have higher power handling capacity than conventional band-pass filters.

Presents a study that reported on work directed toward the systematic evaluation of an optical frequency standard based on the [sup199]Hg[sup+] ion. Overview on the atomic system; Frequency measurements of the clock transition; Conclusion.