Fabrication of Cesium Vapor Cells for Chip-Scale Atomic Clock Based on Coherent Population Trapping

Abstract

The article presents the results of the development, fabrication and investigation of miniature cesium vapor cells for quantum frequency standards with optical pumping, working on the effect of coherent population trapping. Microelectromechanical systems technologies were used in the manufacture of cells. For the first time, the dry silicon etching in inductively coupled plasma of sulfur hexafluoride and freon gas in a mixed mode was used to form internal cavities of cells with a thickness of 1.5 mm. Vacuum-tight sealing of cells containing a solid-state source of cesium vapor and buffer gas was carried out by anodic bonding of glass and silicon in a neon atmosphere. The coherent population trapping signal with a linewidth of 750 Hz and a signal-to-noise ratio of 1190 in the 1-Hz bandwidth was observed. Experimental results show that these microcells are appropriate for applications to atomic clock with a relative frequency stability of $6\cdot 10^{-11}$ at 1 s.