Development of Precision Time and Frequency Systems and Devices at Apl
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LAUREN 1. RUEGER and MARY C. CHIU DEVELOPMENT OF PRECISION TIME AND FREQUENCY SYSTEMS AND DEVICES AT APL APL's entry into research, development, testing, and fabrication of precision time and frequency devices was occasioned by its development of a high-quality, spaceborne oscillator for the Transit navigation satellite program. Later, this effort branched out into atomic frequency standards and other innovative frequency standards such as the super conducting cavity stability oscillator and trapped ion devices. As an auxiliary operation, APL maintains and operates a Time and Frequency Stan dards Laboratory containing in-house standard time and frequency devices that are tracked against other time standards that contribute data for the international calibration of the basic unit of time, the second. INTRODUCTION Fig. 1). The technique requires a reference device that The importance of time and frequency is often un is offset in frequency and is of comparable or better appreciated. Knowledge of accurate and precise time stability than the one being tested. The two signals are and frequency is vital to navigation, communications, mixed and filtered, and the resultant beat frequency geodesy, and gravitational studies, to name a few. In (or time interval) is measured. The fractional frequency many cases, the limiting factor in these studies is the deviation is determined by dividing the measured val quality of their time and frequency information. We ue by the reference frequency. The stability of a fre- obtain time and frequency information from many types of devices, ranging from the centuries-old pen dulum to today's atomic standards. The devices have become diverse in accuracy, precision, and operational and physical characteristics because of special require ments of the various applications. Over the years, APL has been involved in the re search and development of several types of time and frequency devices and their associated auxiliary equip ment. This article describes some of the devices and 1 outlines their applications. ,---_..L--_-, IVl - Vol = vb = Tb' where b = beat CONCEPT OF STABILITY The most important parameter in evaluating a time 1 or frequency device is its stability, which is a mea Example: vb = 1 hertz sure of how accurately it remains at a given frequen Tb = 1 second cy over a specified time interval. Stability is measured by counting the number of periods in a device's out put signal over a specified time interval and relating the result to the nominal frequency. Stability is usual ly expressed as a fractional frequency difference; for example, if a device's frequency signal at 5 megahertz varied by 1 hertz over a measured time interval, its sta bility would be (1 hertz)/(5 megahertz), or 2 parts in 7 10 • The frequency stability of a device can be measured quite accurately; the noise floor on measurement sys Figure 1-The heterodyne frequency measurement method 16 2 used at APL as a frequency fluctuation measurement sys tems developed at APL is parts in 10 • A common tem. The difference frequency, IV1 - Vo I, is measured with technique for measuring the stability of frequency a frequency counter. A counter measuring the period (or mUl devices, one that is used at APL, is known as the het tiple period) of the beat (difference) frequency could equally erodyne frequency measurement method (outlined in well be used. Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Volume 6, Number 1 75 L. G. Rueger and M. C. Chiu - Precision Time and Frequency Systems and Devices quency device usually varies as a function of the lators, hydrogen masers, trapped-mercury-ion devices, measurement time interval; stability characteristics as and superconducting cavity stabilized oscillators) will a function of time are given for several frequency be discussed in detail. devices in Fig. 2. The stability of a device is affected by factors other QUARTZ OSCILLATORS than measurement time. All frequency devices are APL's entry into the time and frequency field be based on some type of periodic physical phenomenon, gan with the development of the quartz oscillator for 3 whether it is the vibration of a quartz crystal or the the Transit navigation satellite in 1959. ,4 Transit's resonant transition energy in an atom, and they can navigation system was based on precision measurement be influenced and perturbed by their environment. The of the Doppler shift in the signal received on earth perturbations, in turn, affect the device's stability. from a very stable satellite transmitter. The Doppler Different frequency devices are affected to different shift phenomenon is used to calculate the dimensions degrees by various environmental influences, primar of the propagation path between the earth receiver and ily temperature, acceleration (gravity), vibration, radi the satellite transmitter as the craft passes overhead. ation, and magnetic fields. Stability as a function of The position of the satellite as a function of time is environmental factors is usually quoted as a perfor transmitted by a modulation of the satellite's signal. mance characteristic separate from the type of stabil The position of the earth receiver is then derived from ity shown in Fig. 2. the satellite's position and the propagation path length. Aging or long-term drift, also a factor in a device's Obviously, time and frequency play major roles in long-term performance,. is usually caused by relaxa the system; the more accurately they are known, the tion processes incorporated in the design and fabrica more accurately the earth receiver's position can be tion of the frequency device itself, but it is not determined. In the operational Transit system, receiver necessarily inherent in the physical phenomenon on positions can be determined from within 0.2 nautical which it is based. Figure 2 shows the typical upward mile (the worst case) down to 0.015 nautical mile (ap turn at the long time intervals associated with aging proximately 40 meters) under optimal conditions. in all of the listed frequency devices except the trapped These navigation satellites therefore required very ac mercury ion. However, the latter's long-term stabili curate on-board time and frequency standards. ty is only projected at this point, as will be discussed Since APL designed the first oscillator in 1959, it later. has continued to research, design, develop, and fab The frequency standards in Fig. 2 find practical ap ricate oscillators for spaceflight applications. About plications in systems for timekeeping, propagation 200 spaceflight-qualified oscillators have been built at measurement, navigation, and communication by APL since then. Spaceflight qualification requires very means of combinations of frequency multiplication, rigorous design and testing in order to provide ade division, and mixing. The particular choice of frequen quate protection and reliability under harsh launch cy standard depends on the dominating characteriza conditions and in view of the inaccessibility of space. tion of the system application. The factors to be APL-built oscillators are subjected to intense shock considered include size; cost; power consumption; fre and vibration tests, extended thermal vacuum tests, quency stability; frequency spectral purity; response and rigorous inspections at each step of fabrication. to variations in such environmental conditions as tem Table 1 lists some performance characteristics of the perature, magnetic fields, electric fields, ionizing radi quartz oscillator. As Fig. 2 shows, the stability per ation, and vibration; aging effects; and system formance of the best bulk quartz oscillators is much reliability. In the following sections, the frequency poorer than that of the newer high-precision atomic devices on which APL is doing research (quartz oscil- frequency devices. Yet quartz oscillators are still used almost exclusively as the frequency device on satellites 10- 11 ~~~--~--~----~--~--~--~ t Table 1-Typical performance of a quartz oscillator. <l c' 10- 1 2 o Short-term stability: 1 second 1 x 10- 12 '';:::; ctI 13 '> 10 second 6 x 10- ~ 10- 13 100 second 4 x 10 -13 > ll u Long-term aging 2 x 1O - / day c ~ 10- 14 Phase noise at 1 kilohertz: 155 decibels at 10 kilohertz cr from the carrier ~ Cii Frequency stability as a function of c 10- 15 12 0 Temperature 5 x 10- rc '';:::; u Output short 3 x 10-11 e 10 LL 10- 16 Radiation (low level) 1 x 10- Irads 10- 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 Acceleration x 10- 9/gravity Measurement t ime (seconds) Power consumption 0.65 watt Figure 2-The stability performance of several types of pre Weight (single) 1.3 pounds cision frequency devices. 76 Johns Hopkins A PL Technical Digest, Volume 6, Number 1 L. G. Rueger and M. C. Chiu - Precision Time and Frequency Systems and Devices because of their small size, light weight, high reliabil ity, and ruggedness. A quartz crystal oscillator can be divided into two major components: the quartz resonator and the as sociated electronic circuit that keeps the resonator at optimal operating conditions. The components of one oscillator design and a partially assembled dual-oscil lator book are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively; Fig. 5 is a block diagram of the oscillator. The reso nator, which is the physical source of the frequency signal, is a small piece of quartz that is cut and dimen sioned so that it has a particular resonant vibration Figure 3-The components of an oscillator flask. mode. Resonator technology has improved significantly over the past 15 years. New techniques and designs for cutting the quartz material have resulted in resonators that are less sensitive to temperature variations. Ad vanced techniques for growing the synthetic quartz from which the resonator is cut have reduced impuri ties and structural defects, resulting in better perfor mance characteristics, particularly long-term stability.