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US 8,299,858 B2Granted
Device, system, and method of frequency generation using an atomic resonator
AssigneeDimension 4 Ltd.
InventorLahav Gan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A solid state atomic clock may utilize quantum states capable of exhibiting a hyperfine resonance in order to generate a frequency standard. A device capable of coupling a free running oscillator to the hyperfine resonance frequency in order to generated output signal is described herein. In some aspect of the invention, the atomic clock may be fabricated on a silicon substrate and it may be integrated, in chip scale, as part of an electronic integrated circuit. The principal of operation, the method of making and system which utilized a solid state atomic clock are also disclosed.
Claims20
A device comprising:
- a solid-state atomic clock to generate a clock frequency signal, the solid-state atomic clock comprising:
- a solid-state atomic resonator module including a solid state atomic resonator formed by a solid-state material including an optical cavity having color centers, which are capable of exhibiting hyperfine transition, wherein the solid-state atomic resonator module is configured to receive an input frequency signal, which is based on said clock frequency signal, wherein the solid-state atomic resonator module is configured to generate a frequency error signal proportional to a difference between the input frequency signal and a hyperfine resonance frequency of said color centers, and wherein the solid state-atomic resonator module comprises a light source configured to generate light for illuminating said solid-state atomic resonator and a photo detector to generate the frequency error signal based on detected photo-luminescence of said color centers;
- a feedback circuit configured to generate an error-correction signal based on the frequency error signal provided by said solid-state atomic resonator module;
- a controlled oscillator configured to generate said clock frequency signal based on said error-correction signal;
- and
- a frequency multiplier configured to generate the input frequency signal to said solid-state atomic resonator module by multiplying a frequency of said clock frequency signal.
3 more elements
A method for obtaining a frequency reference, the method comprising:
- illuminating a solid state atomic resonator formed by a solid-state material including an optical cavity having color centers, such that the color centers exhibit hyperfine transition;
- generating a clock frequency signal based on a hyperfine resonance frequency of said color centers;
- generating an input frequency signal to said solid state atomic resonator based on said clock frequency signal;
- detecting photo-luminescence of said color centers;
- based on the detected photo-luminescence of said color centers, determining a frequency error, which is proportional to a difference between the input frequency signal and the hyperfine resonance frequency of said color centers;
- and
- adjusting said clock frequency signal based on said frequency error.
4 more elements
A system comprising:
- at least one electronic device including:
- a solid-state atomic clock to generate a clock frequency signal, the solid-state atomic clock comprising:
- a solid-state atomic resonator module including a solid state atomic resonator formed by a solid-state material including an optical cavity having color centers, which are capable of exhibiting hyperfine transition, wherein the solid-state atomic resonator module is configured to receive an input frequency signal, which is based on said clock frequency signal, wherein the solid-state atomic resonator module is configured to generate a frequency error signal proportional to a difference between the input frequency signal and a hyperfine resonance frequency of said color centers, and wherein the solid state-atomic resonator module comprises a light source configured to generate light for illuminating said solid-state atomic resonator and a photo detector to generate the frequency error signal based on detected photo-luminescence of said color centers;
- a feedback circuit configured to generate an error-correction signal based on the frequency error signal provided by said solid-state atomic resonator module;
- a controlled oscillator configured to generate said clock frequency signal based on said error-correction signal;
- and
- a frequency multiplier configured to generate the input frequency signal to said solid-state atomic resonator module by multiplying a frequency of said clock frequency signal;
- and
- at least one electronic module to receive said clock frequency signal and perform an operation based on the clock frequency signal.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.