Atomic clocks are measured against microwave transitions of cesium atoms
Atomic clocks traditionally rely on the microwave transitions of cesium atoms, which form the basis for the definition of the SI second.
The retrieved papers consistently confirm that standard atomic clocks and primary frequency standards utilize the microwave transitions of cesium atoms (such as the 9.192 GHz hyperfine transition of 133Cs).
B. François, C. E. Calosso, J. M. Danet, R. Boudot. A low phase noise microwave frequency synthesis for a high-performance cesium vapor cell atomic clock. 2014. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4896043
Paper 0 details a microwave frequency synthesis chain for a cesium vapor cell atomic clock operating at 9.192 GHz.
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Andreas Bauch, Roland Schröder. Frequency shifts in a cesium atomic clock due to Majorana transitions. 1993. https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.19935050502
Paper 1 models frequency shifts in cesium atomic clocks caused by Majorana transitions interacting with the microwave resonator.
McGrew WF, Zhang X, Leopardi H, Fasano RJ, Nicolodi D, Beloy K, Yao J, Sherman JA, Schäffer SA, Savory J, Brown RC, Römisch S, Oates CW, Parker TE, Fortier TM, Ludlow AD. Towards the optical second: verifying optical clocks at the SI limit.. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1364/optica.6.000448
Paper 2 references primary cesium reference standards whose definitions are based on the microwave hyperfine transition in 133Cs.
Tang Z, Li C, Zhang X, Ren W, Shen K, Li C, Bai Q, Li J, Ren A, Wang H, Luo X, Xu H, Wu J. 1-MHz linewidth VCSEL enabled by monolithically integrated passive cavity for high-stability chip-scale atomic clocks.. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02192-x
Paper 5 discusses a VCSEL integrated into a cesium vapor-cell atomic clock operating near the cesium D1 line.
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