1301.0483 (J. Guéna et al.)

Demonstration of a Dual Alkali Rb/Cs Atomic Fountain Clock    [PDF]

J. Guéna, P. Rosenbusch, Ph. Laurent, M. Abgrall, D. Rovera, M. Lours, G. Santarelli, M. E. Tobar, S. Bize, A. Clairon

We report the operation of a dual Rb/Cs atomic fountain clock. 133Cs and 87Rb atoms are cooled, launched, and detected simultaneously in LNE-SYRTE's FO2 double fountain. The dual clock operation occurs with no degradation of either the stability or the accuracy. We describe the key features for achieving such a simultaneous operation. We also report on the results of the first Rb/Cs frequency measurement campaign performed with FO2 in this dual atom clock configuration, including a new determination of the absolute 87Rb hyperfine frequency.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.0483