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AssigneeCornell Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsAmit Lal, Hui Li, Hang Guo, Shankar Radhakrishnan
Estimating the term…
A signal source for use as a frequency source or time keeping signal source includes a radioactive emission source generating a substantially periodic signal corresponding to a radioactive material's disintegration rate. A radioactive emission detector generates a radioactive emission detection signal and, to stabilize the detected periodic signal, a dead time controlling attenuator blanks or shuts off the radioactive emission detection signal for a selected dead time interval in response to each detected radioactive emission (i.e., a detected signal pulse or signal component) generated by the source. The dead time controlling attenuator output provides a long-term and short-term a stable periodic signal.
A signal source generating a stable periodic signal, for use as a frequency source or time keeping signal source, comprising:
A reference signal source comprising a radioactive emission source generating a substantially periodic signal corresponding to a selected radioactive material's disintegration or decay rate, and a detector responsive to said radioactive emission, said detector generating a stable periodic signal, for use as a frequency source or time keeping reference signal source;
A method for generating a stable periodic signal for use as a frequency source or time keeping signal source, comprising the method steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.