A low-volume cold-atom microwave clock with an additively manufactured cavity

We present the performance of a compact microwave interrogated atomic clock based on laser cooled $^{87}$$\rm{Rb}$ atoms. The clock utilizes a micro-fabricated grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT) to cool and trap atoms, and an additively manufactured microwave cavity for microwave interrogation. We demonstrate a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of $370$ at a 1 Hz bandwidth and mid-term instability of $6.7\times10^{-14}$ at an averaging time of $τ=3 \times 10^{4}$ s. In addition, a low cost mu-metal foil has been implemented on the vacuum chamber to reduce the quadratic Zeeman shift which was previously limiting stability beyond $τ= 10$ s.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
arXiv (Cornell University)
Published
2026-10-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2610.35588
Primary Topic
Advanced Frequency and Time Standards
Type
preprint
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preprint

A low-volume cold-atom microwave clock with an additively manufactured cavity

Erling Riis, Oliver S. Burrow, Rajnandan Choudhury Das, G. Mileti et al.
arXiv (Cornell University)
Advanced Frequency and Time Standards
preprint

A low-volume cold-atom microwave clock with an additively manufactured cavity

Erling Riis, Oliver S. Burrow, Rajnandan Choudhury Das, G. Mileti, C. Affolderbach, Paul F. Griffin, Samuel A. Smith, Alan Bregazzi, Sean Dyer
preprint en

Abstract

We present the performance of a compact microwave interrogated atomic clock based on laser cooled $^{87}$$\rm{Rb}$ atoms. The clock utilizes a micro-fabricated grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT) to cool and trap atoms, and an additively manufactured microwave cavity for microwave interrogation. We demonstrate a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of $370$ at a 1 Hz bandwidth and mid-term instability of $6.7\times10^{-14}$ at an averaging time of $τ=3 \times 10^{4}$ s. In addition, a low cost mu-metal foil has been implemented on the vacuum chamber to reduce the quadratic Zeeman shift which was previously limiting stability beyond $τ= 10$ s.

arXiv (Cornell University)
Advanced Frequency and Time Standards
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