Cesium optical atomic clock: an optical pulse that tells the time

We propose a new cesium (Cs) atomic clock whose microwave source is a 9.1926-GHz harmonically and regeneratively mode-locked erbium fiber laser rather than a quartz oscillator and a multiplexer. The repetition rate of the laser is directly locked to the Cs resonance, and the frequency stability evaluated by the Allan variance is 7.1×10-12 for τ=1 s. This new atomic clock provides not only a precise 1-s time standard after demultiplexing but also an optical pulse train with the same stability, which means that the ultrastable clock signal can be delivered throughout the world by means of optical fiber networks.