[time-nuts] a link to a explanation of Rb vs Cs?

jimlux jimlux at earthlink.net
Tue Apr 11 16:54:34 EDT 2017


On 4/11/17 12:34 PM, Attila Kinali wrote:
> Hoi Jim,
>
> On Tue, 11 Apr 2017 07:30:38 -0700
> jimlux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> I'm looking for a link to point to an explanation (at a basic level) of
>> the difference between Rb and Cs references, and what the tradeoffs are.
>> I googled a bit, but all I got were some explanations of the differences
>> in things like vapor pressure, etc.
>
> What exactly are you looking for? A comparison of Rb vapor cell
> standards vs Cs vapor cell standards? Or a general comparison
> why different kind of standards are built with Rb and Cs?
>
> For the former, there is a paper that has some of the details
> why Cs was choosen over Rb for the CSAC in one of the papers.
> (Which I currently cannot find...)
>
> For the latter, there is no easy answer and a lot come from
> technicalities (difference in handling) and what people were
> able to build. There are some fundamental differences in which
> elements get you what kind of stability for different kinds of
> atomic clocks, but I have seen very little on that and it's quite
> spread over various papers and books.

precisely why I asked..

The wikipedia article isn't bad in terms of covering the gas cell vs 
beam in words, but I was hoping for something with pictures..

Encyclopedia Brittanica, perhaps.. except that they only talk about 
caesium beam




>
> 				Attila Kinali
>



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