Compact ion microwave atomic clock

A miniature trapped ion atomic clock, comprising:

• a vacuum package, the vacuum package including:
• a body, the body including at least one turning mirror adapted to reflect an excitation laser beam toward an ion cloud, one or more emitters adapted to release atoms upon heating of the one or more emitters, a plurality of electrodes adapted to trap the ion cloud, a getter adapted to control a vacuum level in the vacuum package, and a plurality of electrical feedthroughs adapted to facilitate operation of the one or more emitters and the plurality of electrodes;
• and
• a lid, the lid including a viewport adapted to transmit the excitation laser beam and ionic fluorescence emitted by the ion cloud upon excitation by the excitation laser beam;
• an optoelectronics package, the optoelectronics package including:
• a laser adapted to generate the excitation laser beam;
• a fluorescence photodetector adapted to detect the ionic fluorescence;
• a local oscillator (LO) adapted to output a clock signal and a radio frequency (RF) signal, the LO including two phase-locked loops (PLLs);
• a trap drive adapted to receive the RF signal, the trap drive adapted to amplify the RF signal using a transformer, the thus amplified RF signal adapted to drive one or more of the electrodes;
• an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) adapted to implement electrical and control functions required to operate the miniature trapped ion atomic clock;
• and
• an interposer wherein the laser, the fluorescence photodetector, the LO, the trap drive, and the ASIC are mounted to the interposer;
• and
• an ionizing source adapted to ionize the thus released atoms, the thus released atoms forming the ion cloud;
• wherein the optoelectronics package is mechanically, electrically, and optically coupled to the vacuum package.