Passive masers having oscillator and cavity control loops
US4316153A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 5, 1980 |
| Grant date | Feb 16, 1982 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 5, 2000 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03L7/26
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The maser of the invention is particularly suitable for forming a frequency standard, by virtue of its excellent degree of frequency stability. The stimulating signal injected into a hydrogen maser cavity 10 is phase modulated at a single modulating frequency from a source 34 by a modulator 2. Nevertheless, the envelope detected signal picked off from the cavity and detected by a detector 13 includes two error signal components which respectively represent the difference between the carrier frequency of the injected signal and the frequency of the stimulated emission and the difference between the resonance frequency of the cavity and the said carrier frequency. These components are distinguished by their phases and phase shifters 42 and 44 and bring them respectively into phase with the modulating signal for detection in detectors 23 and 33 whose integrated outputs are used to control the oscillator 1 (and hence the said carrier frequency) and the cavity tuning respectively.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.