Microsystems for Space Technologies Laboratory (LMTS), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2012 Mar;59(3):448-56. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2012.2214.
We present the microfabrication and characterization of a low-power, chip-scale Rb plasma light source, designed for optical pumping in miniature atomic clocks. A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) configuration is used to ignite a Rb plasma in a micro-fabricated Rb vapor cell on which external indium electrodes were deposited. The device is electrically driven at frequencies between 1 and 36 MHz, and emits 140 μW of stable optical power while coupling less than 6 mW of electrical power to the discharge cell. Optical powers of up to 15 and 9 μW are emitted on the Rb D2 and D1 lines, respectively. Continuous operation of the light source for several weeks has been demonstrated, showing its capacity to maintain stable optical excitation of Rb atoms in chip-scale double-resonance atomic clocks.
我们展示了一种低功率、芯片级的铷等离子体光源的微制造和特性，该光源专为微型原子钟中的光泵浦而设计。采用介电阻挡放电（DBD）结构在微制造的铷蒸汽室中点燃铷等离子体，该蒸汽室上沉积了外部铟电极。该器件在 1 至 36 MHz 的频率下进行电驱动，在将小于 6 mW 的电力耦合到放电室时，可发出 140 μW 的稳定光功率。在 Rb D2 和 D1 线分别可发出高达 15 和 9 μW 的光功率。已证明该光源可连续运行数周，表明其有能力在芯片级双共振原子钟中保持对铷原子的稳定光学激发。
