ATOMIC CLOCK BASED ON AN OPTO-ELECTRONIC OSCILLATOR
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device, comprising:
- an opto-electronic oscillator having an opto-electronic loop with an optical section and an electrical section, said oscillator operable to generate an oscillation at an oscillation frequency; and
an atomic reference module including an atomic frequency reference and coupled to receive and interact with at least a portion of an optical signal in said optical section to produce a feedback signal, wherein said oscillator is operable to respond to said feedback signal to stabilize said oscillation frequency with respect to said atomic frequency reference.
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Abstract
Opto-electronic oscillators having a frequency locking mechanism to stabilize the oscillation frequency of the oscillators to an atomic frequency reference. Whispering gallery mode optical resonators may be used in such oscillators to form compact atomic clocks.
67 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A device, comprising:
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an opto-electronic oscillator having an opto-electronic loop with an optical section and an electrical section, said oscillator operable to generate an oscillation at an oscillation frequency; and
an atomic reference module including an atomic frequency reference and coupled to receive and interact with at least a portion of an optical signal in said optical section to produce a feedback signal, wherein said oscillator is operable to respond to said feedback signal to stabilize said oscillation frequency with respect to said atomic frequency reference. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A device, comprising:
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an optical modulator to modulate an optical carrier signal at a modulation frequency in response to an electrical modulation signal to produce a plurality of modulation bands in said optical carrier signal;
an opto-electronic loop having an optical section coupled to receive a first portion of said optical carrier signal from said optical modulator, and an electrical section to produce said electrical modulation signal according to said first portion of said optical carrier signal, said opto-electronic loop causing a delay in said electrical modulation signal to provide a positive feedback to said optical modulator;
a frequency reference module having an atomic transition in resonance with a selected modulation band among said modulation bands and coupled to receive a second portion of said optical carrier signal, said second portion interacting with said atomic transition to generate an optical monitor signal; and
a feedback module to receive said optical monitor signal and to control said optical modulator in response to information in said optical monitor signal to lock said modulation frequency relative to an atomic reference frequency associated with said atomic transition. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A device, comprising:
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an opto-electronic oscillator to receive an optical signal at an optical carrier frequency and to output a modulated optical signal having a carrier band at said optical carrier frequency and a plurality of modulation bands;
an atomic filter to receive and filter at least a portion of said modulated optical signal to produce an optical monitor signal, said atomic filter having atoms with an energy structure comprising three different energy levels that allow for two different optical transitions that share a common energy level, wherein one modulation band and another immediate adjacent band in said modulated optical signal are in resonance with said two different optical transitions, respectively; and
a feedback control coupled to receive said optical monitor signal and to control said opto-electronic oscillator to lock a frequency of each modulation band relative to an atomic frequency reference in said three different energy levels according to information in said optical monitor signal indicative of a variation in said frequency relative to said atomic frequency reference. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. A method, comprising:
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modulating a coherent laser beam at a modulation frequency to produce a modulated optical beam;
transmitting a portion of the modulated optical beam through an optical delay element to cause a delay;
converting the portion from the optical delay element into an electrical signal;
using the electrical signal to control modulation of the coherent laser beam to cause an oscillation at the modulation frequency;
obtaining a deviation of the modulation frequency from an atomic frequency reference; and
adjusting the modulation of the coherent laser beam to reduce the deviation. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A device, comprising:
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an optical modulator to modulate an optical carrier signal at a modulation frequency in response to an electrical modulation signal to produce a plurality of modulation bands in said optical carrier signal; and
an opto-electronic loop having an optical section coupled to receive a portion of said optical carrier signal from said optical modulator, and an electrical section to produce said electrical modulation signal from said portion of said optical carrier signal, said opto-electronic loop causing a delay in said electrical modulation signal to provide a positive feedback to said optical modulator; and
an atomic cell having atoms with two atomic transitions sharing a common energy level and in resonance with two adjacent bands in said modulated optical signal to exhibit electromagnetically induced transparency, said atomic cell positioned in said optical section to transmit said first portion of said optical carrier signal to said electrical section. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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37. A device, comprising:
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an optical resonator configured to support whispering gallery modes and formed of an electro-optical material;
an optical coupler near said optical resonator to evanescently couple an input optical signal into a whispering gallery mode in said optical resonator and to couple energy in said whispering gallery mode out of said optical resonator to produce an optical output signal;
electrodes formed on said optical resonator to apply an electrical control signal to said optical resonator to change a refractive index of said electro-optical material to modulate said optical output signal at a modulation frequency;
an atomic cell having atoms that interact with said modulated optical output signal to exhibit electromagnetically induced transparency, said atomic cell located to receive at least a portion of said modulated optical output signal to produce an optical transmission;
a photodetector to convert said optical transmission into a detector signal; and
a feedback control to produce said electrical control signal according to said detector signal to stabilize said modulation frequency relative to an atomic frequency reference in said atoms.
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38. A device, comprising:
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a substrate;
a semiconductor optical modulator formed on said substrate to modulate light in response to an electrical modulation signal;
a first waveguide on said substrate coupled to receive a modulated optical signal from said optical modulator;
an optical resonator to support whispering gallery modes and optically coupled to said first waveguide via evanescent coupling;
a second waveguide on said substrate having a first end optically coupled to said optical resonator via evanescent coupling and a second end;
a photodetector on said substrate to receive and convert an optical output from said second waveguide into an electrical signal;
an electrical link coupled between said photodetector and said optical modulator to produce said electrical modulation signal from said electrical signal;
a reflector located on one side of said semiconductor optical modulator to form an optical cavity with said second end of said second waveguide to include said semiconductor optical modulator, said optical resonator, said first and said second waveguides in an optical path within said optical cavity, wherein said first and second waveguides are doped to produce an optical gain for a laser oscillation in said optical cavity; and
an atomic cell on said substrate having atoms that interact with light in said optical cavity to exhibit electromagnetically induced transparency, said atomic cell located to receive at least a portion of said light to produce an optical transmission;
a second photodetector on said substrate to convert said optical transmission into a detector signal; and
a feedback control to control said optical modulator according to said detector signal to stabilize a modulation frequency in said light relative to an atomic frequency reference in said atoms.
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Specification