Optically Pumped Small Cesium Beam Standards; A Status Report

We r e p o r t on our p r o j e c t t o s t u d y a n d t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h e p o t e n t i a l p e r f o r m a n c e a c h i e v a b l e in cesium beam f requency s t anda rds in wh ich l a se r d r i v e n o p t i c a l pumping is u s e d f o r t h e a t o m i c s t a t e s e l e c t i o n a n d s t a t e d e t e c t i o n i n p l a c e o f t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l m a g n e t i c s t a t e s e l e c t i o n . The beam tubes used have been der ived from commercial d e v i c e s . I n t h e f i r s t u n i t t h e o n l y f u n c t i o n a l change was a s imple rep lacement of s t a t e s e l e c t i o n magne t s w i th op t i c s . I n a s e c o n d u n i t , t h e magne t i c sh i e lds and c f i e ld have been ex tended to i n c l u d e t h e r e g i o n s of o p t i c a l pumping.