compact atomic clock based on isotropic cooling of rubidium atoms – RUBI-CLOCK

The objective of RUBI-CLOCK is to bring the concept of a compact atomic clock based on cold atoms to a technology readiness level that will allow a transfer towards industry. Compared to the compact caesium clock successfully developed at SYRTE over the last 10 years, the global objective of the RUBI-CLOCK project consists in developing a new compact clock based on laser-cooled rubidium atoms.

Working with rubidium atoms opens very interesting perspectives for the industrial transfer of this concept. First, a global improvement in the clock performance is expected since rudibium offers a much lower collisionnal shift currently limiting the long term stability and accuracy of the caesium clock. Second, utilisation of rubidium atoms offers the possibility of implementing an innovative approach for the laser bench. This approach relies on the utilisation of standard fibered optical components dedicated to telecom applications, operated at 1560 nm, followed by a second harmonic generation for the conversion to 780 nm. This optical architecture will result in a strong simplification of our optical bench: first the supply of the optical components will be much easier, second the compactness of the setup will be considerably improved and third the integration of the bench will be greatly simplified since no alignment is required.

Therefore, with this project, an important step will be made towards a commercial exploitation of very high performance clocks based on cold atoms. It should lead to the launching of a new product that will offer a global performance improved by one order of magnitude compared to current industrial state-of-the-art. More precisely, at the end of the project, this concept will be transferred to an emerging start-up company, µQuanS, spin-off from SYRTE and Institut d’Optique. This company aims at developing a new generation of scientific instruments based on atom cooling and manipulation techniques, with a short term focus on atomic clocks and matter wave gravimeters. The RUBI-CLOCK project will thus yield to an interesting industrial activity that will highlight the quality of the research conducted at SYRTE and Institut d’Optique. In addition, the project will benefit from a close follow-up by Service des Relations Contractuelles et de la Valorisation (SRCV) of the Observatoire de Paris, with will take care of all aspects related to intellectual property.