Abstract
We describe the operation of a laser-cooled rubidium 87Rb frequency standard. We present a new measurement of the 87Rb hyperfine frequency with a 1.3 × 10−14 relative accuracy, by comparison with a Cs fountain primary standard. The measured 87Rb ground-state hyperfine splitting is ν87 = 6 834 682 610.90429(9) Hz. This value differs from previously published values (see Essen L., Hope E. G. and Sutcliffe D., Nature 189 1961 298; Penselin S., Moran T., Cohen W. and Wscinkler G., Phys. Rev. 127 1962 524; Arditi M. and Cerez P. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. IM-21 1972 391) by about 2 − 3 Hz and is 104 times more accurate. Because of the low collisional shift in 87Rb, future improvements may lead to a stability of 1 × 10−14τ−1/2 and a relative accuracy in the 10−17 range.