A Novel Physics Package for Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks

This paper presents the design, prototype fabrication, and testing of a novel physics package for Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks (CSAC). This physics package enables low-cost, low-power, small-size, and high-throughput production of atomic-quality timing in portable battery-powered devices. The prototyped device is fabricated using MEMS technology, and stability performance, thermal and magnetic behaviors of the physics package are measured using a custom-made tester. Using the prototyped physics package, we have demonstrated an atomic clock with short-term stability of σ<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</inf>, (τ)= 1.67×10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-10</sup> =<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−1/2</sup>. In this clock, the physics package consumes less than 30mW of power when placed inside a vacuum chamber.