Search Results (78)

The method of laser far-detuned frequency locking is proposed based on a fiber Fabry–Perot cavity which transfers the ultra-stable atomic reference frequency stability to the target laser utilized for atomic sensors. The control transfer function of the closed-loop system is established to elucidate the process of perturbation suppression. It is illustrated that this method is robust against the disturbance to the laser and cavity by controlling the cavity with different parameters. After the long-term experimental test, the stability of the laser frequency locked on the fiber cavity achieves an Allan deviation of $9.9\times {10}^{-11}$ and the detuning of the nearest atomic frequency resonance point is more than 200 GHz. Its stability and detuning value exceed previous reports. Full article

As the largest non-gravitational force, solar radiation pressure (SRP) causes significant errors in precise orbit determination (POD) of the BeiDou global navigation satellite system (BDS-3) medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite. This is mainly due to the imperfect modeling of the satellite’s cuboid body. Since the BDS-3’s inter-satellite link (ISL) can enhance the orbit estimation of BDS-3 satellites, the aim of this study is to establish an a priori SRP model for the satellite body using 281-day ISL observations to reduce the systematic errors in the final orbits. The adjustable box wind (ABW) model is employed to refine the optical parameters for the satellite buses. The self-shadow effect caused by the search and rescue (SAR) antenna is considered. Satellite laser ranging (SLR), day-boundary discontinuity (DBD), and overlapping Allan deviation (OADEV) are utilized as indicators to assess the performance of the a priori model. With the a priori model developed by both ISL and ground observation, the slopes of SLR residual for the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites (SECM) satellites decrease from −0.097 cm/deg and 0.067 cm/deg to −0.004 cm/deg and −0.009 cm/deg, respectively. The standard deviation decreased by 21.8% and 26.6%, respectively. There are slight enhancements in the average values of DBD and OADEV, and a reduced β-dependent variation is observed in the OADEV of the corresponding clock offset. We also found that considering the SAR antenna only slightly improves the orbit accuracy. These results demonstrate that an a priori model established for the BDS-3 MEO satellite body can reduce the systematic errors in orbits, and the parameters estimated using both ISL and ground observation are superior to those estimated using only ground observation. Full article

The present study addresses advanced monitoring techniques for particles and airborne molecular contaminants (AMCs) in cleanroom environments, which are crucial for ensuring the integrity of semiconductor manufacturing processes. We focus on quantifying particle levels and a representative AMC, hydrogen chloride (HCl), having known detrimental effects on equipment longevity, product yield, and human health. We have developed a compact laser sensor based on open-path cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) using a 1742 nm near-infrared diode laser source. The sensor enables the high-sensitivity detection of HCl through absorption by the 2-0 vibrational band with an Allan deviation of 0.15 parts per billion (ppb) over 15 min. For quantifying particle number concentrations, we examine various detection methods based on statistical analyses of Mie scattering-induced ring-down time fluctuations. We find that the ring-down distributions’ 3rd and 4th standard moments allow particle detection at densities as low as ~10⁵ m⁻³ (diameter > 1 μm). These findings provide a basis for the future development of compact cleanroom monitoring instrumentation for wafer-level monitoring for both AMC and particles, including mobile platforms. Full article

A compact photoacoustic spectroscopy system integrated with a non-coaxial multi-pass cell was developed for improving the instrument performance in the measurement of methane. The multi-pass cell with compact light spot mode was proposed for concentrating the light radiation within a limited space, which effectively reduces the instrument dimension. A distributed feedback (DFB) laser with a central wavelength of 1653 nm was employed to excite the photoacoustic signal of methane. A total of 21 round trips of reflection were achieved in an acoustic resonant cavity with a radius of 4 mm and a length of 36 mm. Four microphones were installed around the cavity to collect the signal. An 11-fold enhancement of the photoacoustic signal was achieved through the multi-pass cell, compared to a single-pass cell with dimension of 10 cm. The system was used to measure different concentrations of methane, which showed good linearity. The continuous detection of 10 ppm methane gas was carried out for 6000 s. The Allan standard deviation analysis indicates that the limit of detection of the system was 5.7 ppb with an optimum integration time of 300 s. Full article

Rubidium atomic clocks have been used extensively in various fields, with applications such as a core component of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). However, they exhibit inherently poor long-term stability. This paper presents the development of a control system for rubidium atomic clocks. It introduces an adaptive Kalman filtering algorithm for the disciplining of a rubidium atomic clock, utilizing autocovariance least squares (ALS) to estimate the clock’s noise parameters. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves a high estimation accuracy. The standard deviation of the clock error between the steered rubidium atomic clock 1 Pulse Per Second (1PPS) and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) provided by the National Time Service Center (NTSC) is better than 2.568 nanoseconds(ns), with peak-to-peak values improving to within 11.358 ns. Notably, its frequency stability is reduced to 3.06 × 10⁻¹³ @100,000 s. The results for the rubidium atomic clock demonstrate that the adaptive Kalman filtering algorithm proposed herein constitutes an accurate and effective control strategy for the rubidium atomic clock discipline. Full article

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can be utilized for long-distance and high-precision time transmission. With the ongoing development of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites and the rapidly changing geometric relationships between them, the convergence rate of ambiguity parameters in Precise Point Positioning (PPP) algorithms has increased, enabling fast and reliable time transfer. In this paper, GPS is used as an experimental case, the LEO satellite constellation is designed, and simulated LEO observation data are generated. Then, using the GPS observation data provided by IGS, a LEO-enhanced PPP model is established. The LEO-augmented PPP model is employed to facilitate faster and more reliable high-precision time transfer. The application of the LEO-augmented PPP model to time transfer is examined and discussed through experimental examples. These examples show multiple types of time transfer links, and the experimental outcomes are uniform. GPS + LEO is compared with exclusive GPS time transfer schemes. The clock offset of the time transfer link for the GPS + LEO scheme converges more swiftly, meaning that the time required for the clock offset to reach a stable level is the briefest. In this paper, standard deviation is employed to assess stability, and Allan deviation is utilized to assess frequency stability. The results show that the clock offset stability and frequency stability achieved by the GPS + LEO scheme are superior within the convergence time range. Controlled experiments with different numbers of satellites for LEO enhancement indicate that time transfer performance can be improved by increasing the number of satellites. As a result, augmenting GPS tracking data with LEO observations enhances the time transfer service compared to GPS alone. Full article

This article deals with power supply linear and switching regulators commonly used in various applications for stabilizing an output voltage and ensuring a necessary power input to the load. It describes their basic parameters, performances, advantages, and disadvantages according to their topologies. We design a measurement chain for efficiency evaluation based on power monitors INA219 connected to an embedded system, Arduino UNO. Measurements were focused on evaluation linear regulators MA7805, LM317, switching regulators SZBK07, LM2575, SCW05B-05, and XH-M401. The resulting efficiency of linear and switching regulators was analyzed and errors in the measurement chain were evaluated. The second contribution is an innovative way of carrying out regulator noise estimation using a fast Allan variance method, focused on white noise and flicker noise (bias instability). The main contribution is employing a fast Allan variance method algorithm that dramatically decreases computation time by up to 11 s for 72 million measured (or generated) samples. It enables the analysis of large data sets of various physical quantities (for example, regulator output voltages). Full article

Laser absorption spectroscopy for gas sensing basically employs an air pump located at the gas cell probe to draw in ambient gases, and the on-site gas sample is subsequently delivered for laboratory non-real-time analysis. In this study, an in situ all-fiber remote gas sensing strategy is proposed. The anti-resonant hollow-core fiber (AR-HCF) is used as the sensing fiber, and a 20 m middle-hole eccentric-core fiber (MH-ECF) is used as the conducting fiber. The remote ambient gases can be inhaled into the AR-HCF as a result of the negative pressure transmitted through the MH-ECF when pumping gas at the interface of the MH-ECF. Since the real-time monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions in industrial processes holds immense significance in addressing global climate change, the detection of CO₂ is achieved with the TDLAS-WMS method, and the gas sensing performance of an all-fiber remote gas sensing structure (RGS) is experimentally validated. The response time t₉₀ under the pumping condition is about 456 s, which is about 30 times faster than that of free diffusion. Allan deviation results for more than one hour of continuous monitoring indicate that the lowest detection limit for the all-fiber RGS is 0.0373% when the integration time is 184 s. The all-fiber remote gas sensing strategy also possesses the benefits of being applicable to multiplex, hazardous gas environment passive monitoring. Full article

Indirect photoacoustic sensing (PAS) offers accurate low-ppm gas measurements, with an inverse relation of the obtained signal to the measured gas concentration. The gas is sealed in transistor outline (TO) housing using a new method. This provides a relatively a very small volume for the reference gas signal. The gas sensing system features a black body source, highly reflective measurement volumes and TO housing sealed with gas and multiple sensors. CO₂ is used for testing and characterizing the sensor sealing and working concepts in the measurement range 0–2000 ppm, with other gases, such as CO, methane, etc., planned to be tested. A PAS signal corresponding to a 4 ppm minimum gas concentration is measured. Allan Deviation measurements provide a theoretical limit of detection of 3.14 ppm, with the integration time of 5.2 × 10³ s. Full article

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are key components of various applications including navigation, robotics, aerospace, and automotive systems. IMU sensor characteristics have a significant impact on the accuracy and reliability of these applications. In particular, noise characteristics and bias stability are critical for proper filter settings to perform a combined GNSS/IMU solution. This paper presents an analysis based on the Allan deviation of different IMU sensors that correspond to different grades of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)-type IMUs in order to evaluate their accuracy and stability over time. The study covers three IMU sensors of different grades (ascending order): Rokubun Argonaut navigator sensor (InvenSense TDK MPU9250), Samsung Galaxy Note10 phone sensor (STMicroelectronics LSM6DSR), and NovAtel PwrPak7 sensor (Epson EG320N). The noise components of the sensors are computed using overlapped Allan deviation analysis on data collected over the course of a week in a static position. The focus of the analysis is to characterize the random walk noise and bias stability, which are the most critical for combined GNSS/IMU navigation and may differ or may not be listed in manufacturers’ specifications. Noise characteristics are calculated for the studied sensors and examples of their use in loosely coupled GNSS/IMU processing are assessed. This work proposes a structured and reproducible approach for working with sensors for their use in navigation tasks in combination with GNSS, and can be used for sensors of different levels to supplement missing or incorrect sensor manufacturers’ data. Full article

This paper introduces an innovative two-stage distributed RC oscillator design, enhancing the noise performance and frequency stability for compact electronic devices. This work significantly reduces the comparator noise and improves system reliability by implementing a novel approach to increase the signal transition slope, coupled with optimized resistor and capacitor configurations. The study employs a quadrature oscillator topology and a precise reference voltage generation method, effectively addressing the challenges of mismatch and noise performance. A 469.2 kHz quadrature oscillator with two-stage distributed RC is implemented with a 0.18 μm CMOS process, achieving a FoM of −160 dBc/Hz at 100 Hz with a stable −20 dB roll-off in the phase noise and an Allan deviation floor of less than 0.7 ppm. Full article

A 1550 nm all-fiber dual-polarization coherent Doppler lidar (DPCDL) was constructed to measure the depolarization ratio of atmospheric aerosols. In lidar systems, the polarization state of the laser source is typically required to be that of linearly parallel polarization. However, due to the influence of the fiber-optical transmission and the large-mode field output of the telescope, the laser polarization state changes. Hence, a polarizer was mounted to the emitting channel of the telescope to eliminate the depolarization effect. A fiber-optical polarization beam splitter divided the backscattered light into components with parallel and perpendicular polarization. The DPCDL used two coherent channels to receive each of these two polarization components. A calibration procedure was designed for the depolarization ratio to determine the differences in gain and non-responsiveness in the two polarization channels. The calibration factor was found to be 1.13. Additionally, the systematic error and the measured random error of the DPCDL were estimated to evaluate the performance of the system. The DPCDL’s systematic error was found to be about 0.0024, and the standard deviation was lower than 0.0048. The Allan deviations of a 1-min averaging window with a low SNR of 19 dB and a high SNR of 27 dB were 0.0104 and 0.0031, respectively. The random errors at different measured heights were mainly distributed below 0.015. To confirm the authenticity of the atmospheric depolarization ratio measured with the DPCDL, two field observations were conducted with the use of a co-located DPCDL and micro-pulse polarization lidar to perform a comparison. The results showed that the correlation coefficients of the aerosol depolarization ratios were 0.73 and 0.77, respectively. Moreover, the two continuous observations demonstrated the robustness and stability of the DPCDL. The depolarization ratios were detected in different weather conditions. Full article

We configured a long-distance ranging apparatus to test the principle of dual-comb time-of-flight measurement using ultrashort lasers. Emphasis was given to the evaluation of open-air performance quantitatively in terms of the measurement resolution and stability. The test results revealed that our dual-comb asynchronous optical pulse sampling permits micrometer-resolved ranging with a repeatability of 2.05 μm over a 648 m distance in dry weather conditions. Further atmospheric effects were evaluated in three different weather conditions with corresponding Allan deviations. Finally, the capability of simultaneous determination of multiple targets was verified with the potential of advanced industrial applications, such as manufacturing, surveying, metrology, and geodesy. Full article

The third generation of the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) broadcasts new signals, i.e., B1C, B2a, and B2b, along with the legacy signals of BDS-2 B1I and B3I. The novel signals are demonstrated to show adequate upgraded performance, due to the restrictions on the ground tracking network for the BDS-3 satellites in new frequency bands, and in order to maintain the consistency of the hybrid BDS-2 and BDS-3 orbit/clock products using the common B1IB3I data, the use of B1CB2a observations is not sufficient for both precise orbit determination (POD) and precise point positioning (PPP) applications. In this study, one-year data of 2022 from the International GNSS Service (IGS) and the International GNSS Monitoring and Assessment System (iGMAS) are used in the precise orbit and clock determination for BDS-3 satellites based on the two sets of observations (i.e., B1IB3I and B1CB2a), and the orbit and clock accuracy along with the PPP ambiguity resolution (AR) performance are investigated. In general, the validations demonstrate that clear improvement can be achieved for the B1CB2a-based solution for both POD and PPP. In comparison to the B1IB3I, using BDS-3 B1CB2a observations can help to improve orbit consistency by around 25% as indicated by orbit boundary discontinuities (OBDs), and this use can further reduce the bias and enhance the orbit accuracy as revealed by satellite laser ranging (SLR) residuals. Similar improvement was also identified in the satellite clock performance. The B1CB2a-based solution obtains decreased Allan deviation (ADEV) values in comparison with the B1IB3I-based solution by 6~12%. Regarding the PPP-AR performance, the advantage of B1CB2a observations is evidently reflected through the estimates of wide-lane/narrow-lane fractional cycle bias (FCB), convergence time, and positioning accuracy, in which a significant reduction over 10 min is found in the PPP convergence time. Full article

A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is a high-precision method for comparing clocks and time transfer. The GNSS carrier phase can provide more precise observable information than pseudorange. However, the carrier phase is ambiguous, and only pseudorange can provide the absolute time difference between two clocks. In our study, by taking full advantage of GNSS pseudorange and carrier-phase observables, a differential precise time transfer (DPT) method with a clustering constraint was employed to estimate the time difference between two clocks, aiming to achieve accurate and precise time and frequency transfer. Using this method, several time transfer results were analyzed for different baselines. For the common clock experiment, the time transfer results showed good consistency across different days, with an intra-day accuracy of within 20 ps. Furthermore, we evaluated the self-consistency of DPT using closure among three stations. DPT closure of the three stations had a peak-to-peak value of closure of about 25 ps. The closure did not change over time, indicating the self-consistency of the DPT processing in time transfer. Moreover, our results were compared to station clock solutions provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS), and the standard deviations (STDs) of the four baselines were all less than 100 ps within one month, confirming the time and frequency stability of the DPT method. In addition, we found that the time stability of DPT was less than 20 ps within one week. As for frequency stability, DPT achieved a 10⁻¹⁶ level of modified Allan deviation (MDEV) at an averaging time of about 1 day and a sub-10⁻¹⁷ level at an averaging time of one week. Full article