Historical overview of Ramsey spectroscopy and its relevance on Time and Frequency Metrology

A brief overview of the historical evolution of the method of successive oscillatory fields developed by Norman Ramsey, and some different implementations of the decurrent methodology are presented. We use time and frequency standards, from Cs atomic beams to optical standards, as examples. The scientific progress and the technological implementation achieved through a partnership between USP-SC and INMETRO are shown on the characterization of each time and frequency standard.