Atomic clocks based on coherent population trapping: a review

The paper gives an overview of the use of the coherent population trapping phenomenon (CPT) in alkali-metal atoms in the implementation of atomic frequency standards. Several avenues are examined. These include: the approach using a combination of the CPT phenomenon and the Ramsey separated interaction field technique on an atomic beam; the passive approach in a cell in which the microwave hyperfine resonance excited by the CPT phenomenon is detected directly on the transmitted radiation; the maser approach in which the same resonance is observed by means of stimulated emission in a microwave cavity-cell arrangement; and, finally, the proposed approach using pulses in a time sequence that implements the combined CPT–Ramsey separated interaction field technique in time rather than in space. A review of field and laboratory implementations using these approaches is made.