JPH04139776A - Atomic oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce cost by arranging two regulating rods facing with each other, in front of an Rb gas cell, and constituting said rods of a fixed rod and a movable rod which stretch in the direction vertical to the center axis of the Rb gas cell. CONSTITUTION:Microwaves sufficient to make an Rb gas cell 4 resonate is supplied in a vessel 1. After an incident light from a light incidence hole 2 is absorbed by the cell 4, the light reaches a photo detector 3. Thereby the function as an oscillation source is realized, and a desired signal can be obtained. By adjusting the position of a regulating rod 6 in the direction vertical to the center axis of the cell 4, with respect to a regulating rod 5, frequency can be adjusted so as to resonate with the microwaves inputted from a microwave introducing part 7. Thus the frequency can be adjusted in the location isolated from the cell 4 by controlling the regulating rod 6, so that the Rb gas cell can be simply manufactured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an atomic oscillator equipped with a rubidium gas cell.

[Conventional technology]

In general, an atomic oscillator using an optical bombing method is widely known as a high-precision oscillation source.

Conventionally, this type of atomic oscillator includes a container with a space for utilizing atomic resonance, a rubidium gas cell housed in the container and having a recess opening to the peripheral wall surface, and a rubidium gas cell that can move freely into and out of the recess. An adjustment rod provided at the container and inserted through the peripheral wall of the container is employed.

By the way, in this type of atomic oscillator, the frequency is adjusted by moving the adjustment rod back and forth.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional atomic oscillator has a structure in which a recess is provided in the peripheral wall of the rubidium gas cell, which makes manufacturing the rubidium gas cell difficult and increases costs. Further, providing a concave portion in the peripheral wall of the rubidium gas cell increases the wall thickness, which causes a large loss of light passing through the rubidium gas cell, resulting in a problem that the signal oscillation intensity decreases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an atomic oscillator that can reduce the cost and prevent the signal transmission strength from decreasing.

[Means to solve the problem]

The atomic oscillator according to the present invention has two adjustment rods facing each other in front of a rubidium gas cell, and these adjustment rods are divided into a fixed rod and a movable rod extending in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the rubidium gas cell. It was constructed by

[For production]

In the present invention, the frequency can be adjusted by moving the movable rod back and forth with respect to the fixed rod at a position away from the rubidium gas cell.

(Example) Hereinafter, the structure of the present invention will be explained in detail by referring to an example shown in the drawings.

1 and 2 are a sectional view and a front view showing an atomic oscillator according to the present invention. In the figure, a container designated by reference numeral 1 has a light entrance hole 2 that opens at the front, and is entirely formed of a cylindrical body. 3 is a light-receiving element that receives light transmitted through a rubidium gas cell, which will be described later;
It is stored inside. Reference numeral 4 denotes a roughly spherical rubidium gas cell, which is housed in the container 1 and fixed in front of the light receiving element 3. 5 and 6 each face each other (point symmetry with respect to the central axis of the rubidium gas cell 4)
Two adjustment rods face the front of the rubidium gas cell 4 and are inserted through the peripheral wall of the container 1. These adjustment rods 5 and 6 are approximately 1 part of the cavity axis length from the light entrance hole 2.
It is located at the rear by 1/3, and is composed of a fixed rod and a movable rod, each extending in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the rubidium gas cell 4. 7 is both adjustment rods 56
Of these, it is a microwave introduction part facing in front of the adjustment rod (movable rod) 6.

In the atomic oscillator configured in this way, microwaves sufficient to cause the rubidium gas cell 4 to resonate are supplied into the container 1, so that after the light incident from the light entrance hole 2 is absorbed by the rubidium gas cell 4, When reaching the light receiving element 3,
It functions as an oscillation source and can obtain a desired signal. At this time, by moving the adjustment rod 6 forward and backward relative to the adjustment rod 5 in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the rubidium gas cell 4, the frequency is adjusted so as to resonate with the microwave input from the microwave introducing section 7.

Therefore, the frequency adjustment in this embodiment is
Since it can be carried out at a position away from the rubidium gas cell 4 by the forward and backward movement of , there is no need to provide a recess in the peripheral wall of the rubidium gas cell as in the conventional case, and the rubidium gas cell can be manufactured easily.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since no concave portion is required in the peripheral wall of the rubidium gas cell, the thickness can be set to a correspondingly small size, and therefore the loss of light passing through the rubidium gas cell can be reduced.

In addition, in this example, the case where the rubidium gas cell 4 is approximately spherical is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may have a hemispherical shape, and the shape may be changed as appropriate. I can do it.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, two adjustment rods facing each other are provided in front of the rubidium gas cell, and these adjustment rods are fixed to the rods extending in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the rubidium gas cell. Since it is composed of a rod and a movable rod, the frequency can be adjusted by moving the movable rod back and forth with respect to the fixed rod at a position away from the rubidium gas cell. Therefore, since there is no need to provide a concave portion in the peripheral wall of the rubidium gas cell as in the conventional case, the rubidium gas cell can be manufactured easily and costs can be reduced. In addition, the fact that there is no need for a recess in the peripheral wall of the rubidium gas cell means that the wall thickness can be set to a smaller size, which reduces the loss of light passing through the rubidium gas cell, causing a decrease in signal transmission strength. It can also be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are a sectional view and a front view showing an atomic oscillator according to the present invention. 1... Container, 2... Light introduction hole, 3... Light receiving element, 4... Rubidium gas cell, Adjustment rod, Microwave introduction part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an atomic oscillator equipped with a container having a front-opening light entrance hole and containing a rubidium gas cell, two adjustment rods facing each other are provided in front of the rubidium gas cell, and these adjustment rods are connected to An atomic oscillator comprising a fixed rod and a movable rod extending in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the rubidium gas cell.