A high-performance transportable fountain clock is attractive for use in laboratories with high-precision time-frequency measurement requirements. This Letter reports the improvement of the stability of a transportable rubidium-87 fountain clock because of an optimization of temperature characteristics. This clock integrates its physical packaging, optical benches, microwave frequency synthesizers, and electronic controls onto an easily movable wheeled plate. Two optical benches with a high-vibration resistance are realized in this work. No additional adjustment is required after moving them several times. The Allan deviation of the fountain clock frequency was measured by comparing it with that of the hydrogen maser. The fountain clock got a short-term stability of 2.3×10 13 at 1 s and long-term stability on the order of 10 ¹⁶ at 100,000 s.

In this Letter, we describe an optical assembly that is designed for the engineering application of the atomic laser cooling techniques. Using a folded optical path scheme, we have built a miniaturized, compact magneto-optical trap (CMOT) for an Rb87 atomic fountain clock. Compared with the conventional magneto-optical traps used in other clocks, our system is more robust, more compact, more stable, and saves about 60% laser power. This optical setup has operated for about a year in our fountain system, passed the thermal cycle tests and the mechanical vibration and shock tests, and maintained a high performance without a need for realignment.