JPH0582090B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a gas cell type rubidium atomic oscillator using optical pumping, and particularly to improvements in temperature control of each main part.

The rubidium oscillator uses the rubidium lamp section approximately
It is necessary to maintain a constant temperature of 95℃ and the gas cell part at a constant temperature of about 70℃. Further, the crystal oscillator in the oscillation circuit component is maintained at a certain constant temperature.
For this reason, conventional rubidium oscillators are equipped with separate heaters and temperature controllers for the rubidium lamp section, gas cell section, and crystal oscillation section in order to control them to different constant temperatures. ing. Therefore, there are disadvantages in that the number of parts is large and miniaturization is difficult. Furthermore, since each temperature control is performed independently, there is a limit to temperature stability, and various measures such as temperature compensation are required to stabilize the oscillation frequency.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rubidium atomic oscillator that can reduce the number of parts for temperature control, stably control the temperature of each part, and obtain a stable oscillation frequency.

The oscillator of the present invention is a gas cell type rubidium atomic oscillator comprising a cavity containing a gas cell section, a rubidium lamp that irradiates the gas cell section, and an oscillation circuit component including a crystal oscillation section. coupled to a cavity via a heat transfer material, the cavity is coupled to the rubidium lamp section via a heat transfer material, and the rubidium lamp section, the cavity, and the crystal oscillation section are housed integrally in an exterior case; It is characterized in that the rubidium lamp section is heated and controlled to a constant temperature by a heater that heats the rubidium lamp section.

Furthermore, if a second heater is provided to control heating of the outer case to a constant temperature, it is possible to obtain even more stable oscillation.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. That is, the gas cell section 3 is irradiated with the rubidium lamp 1, and the output of the solar cell 12 provided on the inner wall of the cavity 2 containing the gas cell section 3 is inputted to the oscillation circuit section 14.
It is the same as the conventional method to oscillate microwaves of a constant frequency by coupling the output of the 4 is extracted and connected to the outer wall of the cavity 2 via a heat transfer material 5 (copper, aluminum, ceramic, etc.).
The oscillation circuit configuration section 14 is the same as the conventional one except for the above, and includes a servo amplifier, a low frequency oscillator, a frequency multiplier, a frequency synthesizer, and the like. Then, the output of the servo amplifier is introduced into the crystal oscillation section 4, and the output of the crystal oscillation section 4 is input into the frequency multiplier and frequency synthesizer.

Cavity 2 is coupled to lamp house 6 via heat transfer material 5'. The lamp house 6 accommodates the rubidium lamp 1, and the light emitted from the rubidium lamp 1 irradiates the gas cell 3 through the opening of the lamp house 6 and the hole in the outer wall of the cavity 2, and the gas cell 3 absorbs light of a specific wavelength and emits light from the sun. It is input to the battery 12. The rubidium lamp 1 and the lamp house 6 constitute a rubidium lamp section, and the rubidium lamp section is heated to a constant temperature by a transistor heater 7 fixed to the lamp house 6.
The transistor heater 7 is energized by the temperature controller 8.
controlled by. Of course, the temperature detection element necessary for temperature control is disposed within the rubidium lamp section.

By controlling the rubidium lamp section to a constant temperature, for example, 95.degree. C., the cavity 2 is also heated via the heat transfer material 5'. The temperature of the cavity 2 is maintained at a certain constant temperature, for example 70° C., by the balance between heat transfer by the heat transfer material 5' and heat radiation from the cavity 2. As a result, the temperature of the gas cell 3 is also maintained at the constant temperature (70° C.). The temperature of cavity 2 is
Further, the heat is transferred to the crystal oscillating section 4 via the heat transfer material 5, and the crystal oscillating section 4 is maintained at a certain temperature, for example, 60.degree. C. by balance with the heat radiation of the crystal oscillating section 4. The rubidium lamp section, the cavity 2, and the crystal oscillator section 4 are integrally connected by heat transfer materials 5, 5' and housed in an exterior case 9, and are shielded from outside airflow, etc., to facilitate the above-mentioned heat transfer. and the heat dissipation equilibrium is stable. This makes it possible to provide a small oscillator with low power consumption. However, in order to prevent the amount of heat dissipation from changing due to changes in outside temperature, the outer case 9
It is desirable to further heat and maintain the temperature at a constant temperature by the second transistor heater 10. In this embodiment, a temperature controller 11 is provided that controls the second transistor heater 10 and the energization of the heater to control the temperature of the exterior case 9 to a constant temperature.
However, this is not an essential component of the invention. For example, if the device is used indoors where the temperature is controlled to be constant, the second transistor heater 10 and the like are not required.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the main parts of this embodiment. That is, the crystal oscillator 4 and the cavity 2 are coupled via the heat transfer material 5, the cavity 2 and the lamp house 6 are coupled via the heat transfer material 5', and the outer wall of the lamp house 6 is provided with a transistor heater 7. is fixed. Further, a second transistor heater 10 is fixed to the exterior case 9. The transistor heaters 7 and 10 may be heaters using ordinary resistance wires, but transistor heaters allow easier current control and finer control.

As described above, in the present invention, the rubidium lamp section, the cavity containing the gas cell section, and the crystal oscillation section are each integrally coupled via a heat transfer material, and the rubidium lamp section is heated by a heater. Since the temperature is controlled to be constant, the gas cell section and the crystal oscillation section are each maintained at a predetermined temperature by heat transfer from the rubidium lamp section. In other words, it is possible to control each required part to a constant temperature with one temperature controller, and with fewer parts,
It has the advantage of being small in size, low power consumption, and providing stable oscillation output.

By housing the above-mentioned parts in an outer case and providing a second heater that heats the outer case to a constant temperature, it is possible to reduce the influence of external temperature and obtain more stable oscillation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a partially perspective view showing the main parts of the above embodiment. In the figure, 1... rubidium lamp, 2...
Cavity, 3... Gas cell section, 4... Crystal oscillation section, 5, 5'... Heat transfer material, 6... Lamp house,
7...Transistor heater, 8, 11...Temperature controller, 9...Exterior case, 10...Second transistor heater, 12...Solar cell, 14...Oscillation circuit component.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cavity 2 containing a gas cell section 3, and a rubidium lamp 1 that irradiates the gas cell section.
and an oscillation circuit component 14 coupled to the crystal oscillator 4
In the gas cell type rubidium atomic oscillator, the rubidium lamp section, the cavity, and the crystal oscillation section are housed as one body in an exterior case 9, wherein the crystal oscillation section is connected to the cavity through a first heat transfer material 5. The cavity is connected to the rubidium lamp section through a second heat transfer material 5', and includes a heater 7 that heats the rubidium lamp section to a constant temperature, and the cavity is connected to the rubidium lamp section by heating the rubidium lamp section. , the cavity, and the crystal oscillator in this order, so that the set temperature is lowered in the order in which the heat is transmitted, with a balance between heat transfer and heat radiation. 2. The rubidium atomic oscillator according to claim 1, further comprising a heater 10 that heats the outer case to a constant temperature.