Frequency stability of atomic clocks based on coherent population trapping resonance in 85Rb

An atomic clock system based on coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance in 85Rb is reported, while most past works about the CPT clock are in 87Rb. A new modulation method (full-hyperfine-frequency- splitting modulation) is presented to reduce the effect of light shift to improve the frequency stability of the CPT clock in 85Rb. The experimental results show that the short-term frequency stability of the CPT clock in 85Rb is in the order of 10-10/s and the long-term frequency stability can achieve 1.5×10-11/80000s, which performs as well as 87Rb in CPT resonance. This very good frequency stability performance associated with the low-cost and low-power properties of 85Rb indicates that an atomic clock based on CPT in 85Rb should be a promising candidate for making the chip scale atomic clock. ©2007 Chinese Physical Society and IOP Publishing Ltd.