Compact Microwave Mercury Ion Clock for Space Applications; Conference paper

摘要

We review progress in developing a small Hg ion clock for space operation based on a breadboard ion-clock physics package where Hg ions are shuttled between a quadrupole and a 16-pole rf trap. With this architecture, we have demonstrated a short-term stability '1-2 10(to the negative 13th power) at 1 second, averaging to 10(to the negative 15th power) at 1 day. This development shows that H-maser quality stabilities can be produced in a small clock package, comparable in size to an ultra-stable quartz oscillator required for holding 1- 2 10(to the negative 13th power) at 1 second. We have completed an ion clock physics package designed to withstand vibration of launch and are currently building a '1 kg engineering model for test. We also discuss frequency steering software algorithms that simultaneously measure ion signal size and lamp light output, useful for long-term operation and self- optimization of microwave power and return engineering data.