Method of controlling atomic oscillator, atomic oscillator, and frequency signal generation system
A method of controlling an atomic oscillator includes irradiating an atom cell containing an alkali metal atom with light, measuring a temperature of the atom cell, sweeping a center wavelength of the light when a change amount of the temperature per unit time is equal to or less than a specified value, measuring an intensity of light passing through the atom cell, and determining the center wavelength of the light used for generating a frequency signal based on the intensity of the light.
1. A method of controlling an atomic oscillator comprising:
irradiating an atom cell containing an alkali metal atom with light;
measuring a temperature of the atom cell;
sweeping a center wavelength of the light when a change amount of the temperature per unit time is equal to or less than a specified value;
measuring an intensity of light passing through the atom cell; and
determining the center wavelength of the light used for generating a frequency signal based on the intensity of the light,
wherein the sweeping is stopped when the temperature rises to exceed a first temperature.
2. The method of controlling an atomic oscillator according to claim 1 , wherein
the sweeping is performed when the change amount of the temperature is equal to or less than the specified value and the temperature is equal to or less than a specified temperature.
3. The method of controlling an atomic oscillator according to claim 1 , wherein
the sweeping is started when the temperature decreases to be equal to or less than a second temperature lower than the first temperature.
4. The method of controlling an atomic oscillator according to claim 1 , wherein
the sweeping is stopped when the change amount of the temperature is larger than the specified value.
5. An atomic oscillator comprising:
an atom cell that contains an alkali metal atom;
a light emitting element that irradiates the atom cell with light;
a photodetector element that measures an intensity of light transmitted through the atom cell;
a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of the atom cell;
a circuit that generates a current for controlling the light emitting element based on the intensity of the light; and
a processing unit that
causes the circuit to change the current thereby sweeping a center wavelength of the light when a change amount of the temperature per unit time is equal to or less than a specified value, and
determines the center wavelength of the light used for generating a frequency signal based on the intensity of the light,
wherein the sweeping is stopped when the temperature rises to exceed a first temperature.
6. A frequency signal generation system comprising:
an atomic oscillator including:
an atom cell that contains an alkali metal atom,
a light emitting element that irradiates the atom cell with light,
a photodetector element that measures an intensity of light transmitted through the atom cell,
a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of the atom cell,
a circuit that generates a current for controlling the light emitting element based on the intensity of the light, and
a processing unit that
causes the circuit to change the current thereby sweeping a center wavelength of the light when a change amount of the temperature per unit time is equal to or less than a specified value, and
determines the center wavelength of the light used for generating a frequency signal based on the intensity of the light; and
a signal processing unit that processes a signal from the atomic oscillator,
wherein the sweeping is stopped when the temperature rises to exceed a first temperature.