Compact Optical Clock for Field Applications

ABSTRACT: AOSense proposes to design a compact optical atomic clock capable of stabilities of better than 1e-14 at 1 second and of 1e-16 at 1 day. The proposed physics package will fit within a volume of ~4L, and prospects for further miniaturization are excellent. The proposed device employs technologies already well-developed at AOSense for a number of other government and commercial programs. A primary focus of our effort will be a simplified, robust design suitable for future space qualification. This device, when integrated with a compact optical frequency comb, will provide stable timing information that could find application in a number of areas, including high performance commercial timekeeping, timekeeping in GPS-denied environments, and as part of the GPS constellation itself. BENEFIT: The proposed device will benefit a number of DoD applications, including timekeeping in GPS-denied environments or as part of the GPS system itself. We anticipate that there will also be commercial applications for such a device as part of a practical optical frequency synthesizer. Techniques developed during the course of this effort will likely also be useful for even more advanced future clocks.