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Rubidium Maser Development

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: N/A
Agency Tracking Number: 25896
Amount: $717,895.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 1995
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
20 New England Business Center
Andover, MA 01810
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 David Opie
 (703) 548-6410
Business Contact
Phone: () -
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

In this program we propose to investigate technical issues relevant to the construction of highly stable, miniature, atomic rubidium (Rb (superscript 87)) maser. We plan to investigate two versions of this maser, both to be built in the Phase II: the first is a full size version, and the second will be a compact version. The full size version will be comparable in size and power requirements to a common rubidium standard, but the stability will exceed that of a full size hydrogen maser. A compact version of this maser would be significantly smaller than any atomic standard currently available. The innovations that enable the development of these compact standards are: first, a gas cell design where a optical pumping and microwave interrogation occur in separate bulb volumes; and second, a rubidium gas cell that operates without a buffer gas and has been shown to produce a 10 Hz linewidth of the rubidium hyperfine transition. In the proposed Phase I program, we will investigate several technical issues to be addressed prior to the construction of the rubidium maser. After the comletion of the Phase I program, we will propose a Phase II program that will include the construction of the maser with both a full size and a compact cavity. Such a maser could have wide scale application in navigation systems, EW, bi-static and multi-static radar, as well as commercial areas.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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