ATOMIC CLOCKS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Atomic clocks consist of electronic frequency dividers and electromechanical integrators which are driven by an atomic frequency standard. The following topics are reviewed: criteria for the selection of useful atomic spectral lines; conversion of output frequencies from one to other time scales; advantage of integral over proportional servo control; criteria for performance description of atomic frequency standards; perturbations of output frequencies; tunability of atomic standards; synchronization errors caused by frequency offset and instability; perturbing influences of dividers and measurement techniques; principles and performance data on various atomic frequency standards, namely, conventional NH3 maser, hydrogen maser, other maser schemes, Rb and Cs gas cell standards, and Cs beam standards; and applications for frequency measurement and for time measurement both with single and separated synchronized clocks. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1961
Accession Number
AD0265452

Entities

People

  • F.h. Reder

Organizations

  • United States Army Communications-Electronics Command

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atomic Beam Masers
  • Atomic Clocks
  • Clocks
  • Conversion
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Dividers
  • Frequency Standards
  • Gas Cells
  • Masers
  • Measurement
  • Spectral Lines
  • Standards

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electronics Engineering
  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics
  • Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Technology.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems