[time-nuts] Re: Creating a D.I.Y Rubidium Atomic Clock

[djl]

The Rb capsules are available on ebay, eg:  124012486501
the classblowing part is done?

On 2023-06-07 07:50, Richard (Rick) Karlquist via time-nuts wrote:
> On 6/7/2023 5:03 AM, Stephen C. Menasian via time-nuts wrote:
> 
>> 1) some pure Rb87
>> 2) a glass blowing setup (and some skill)
>> 3) A selection of inert gasses (at least including Ar)
>> 4) Light source (Rb discharge was used then with a circular polarizer;
> 
> 
> At HP we had really skilled glass blowers, with specific experience in
> making Rb glassware.  We had to use an exotic grade of glass that was
> only one step removed from fused quartz.  It had a part number that I
> don't remember.  Very difficult to work with.
> 
> The Rb lamp (one of three pieces of glassware) is very tricky to work
> with.  We used a resonant coil driven at 95 MHz at several watts.
> The trick is to "strike" the plasma and make the lamp light up;
> you can at least see visible light when that happens. I spent a
> lot of time fooling with it.  We never got it to work as
> well as the 5065 lamp.
> 
> BTW, one of the Rb isotopes is slightly radioactive.  Might be
> hard to get as a hobbyist due to regulations.  The physicist I
> sat next to had a tank of it illegally stored in his cubicle.
> 
> Rick
> N6RK
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