Atomic Deuterium Maser

Abstract

An atomic deuterium maser operating on hyperfine transitions was used to measure the ground-state hyperfine separation in deuterium. The result was ${\nu }_0\left(\mathrm{D}\right)=327\mathrm{} 384 352.5222\left(17\right)\mathrm{}$ Hz where the hydrogen hyperfine frequency is assumed to be exactly 1420 405 751. 768 Hz. The construction of the device is discussed and a theory of the deuterium maser is presented with special attention given to frequency shifts occurring in the output frequency. In addition, a possible shift of the deuteron Larmor frequency because of the earth's gravitational field was also investigated and found to be ${10}^{-4\mathrm{}}$ Hz.