Rubidium Mass Measurement and Lifetime Evaluation of the Lamp Bulb of a Rubidium Atomic Clock
HE Sheng-guo1,2,WANG Fang1,ZHAO Feng1,WU Han-hua1,MEI Gang-hua1
1. Key Laboratory of Atomic Frequency Standard of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430071, China
2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract Long operation lifetime is critical important for the space rubidium atomic clock used in the GNSS satellites. The lifetime of a rubidium clock is closely related to the lifetime of rubidium spectral lamp. For the purpose to accurately evaluate the lifetime of rubidium spectral lamp, a new method to gather the rubidium metal in the lamp bulb was developed, and the accuracy of rubidium mass measurement with differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was greatly improved by using the method. Through fitting rubidium consumption data of 7 years, a rubidium consumption model with highest precision so far for the bulbs made of Schott 8436 glass was established. According to the model, a some 130 μg of rubidium mental filling in the bulb will ensure a 50 years operation time of the bulb.
HE Sheng-guo,WANG Fang,ZHAO Feng, et al. Rubidium Mass Measurement and Lifetime Evaluation of the Lamp Bulb of a Rubidium Atomic Clock[J]. Acta Metrologica Sinica, 2016, 37(4): 433-436.
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2016, Vol. 37 
