New thermally-improved chip-scale atomic clock

New thermally-improved Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) devices with full operating and storage temperature have been introduced by Microsemi. The devices offer the lowest power holdover atomic clock technology without compromising size, weight and power (SWaP) while operating at a wide temperature range. With an operating temperature range of -10C to 70C the components are highly reliable, with improved product design, process enhancements and robust product verification / validation. The device's revolutionary technology enables new applications and missions not possible in the past with traditional OCXO and Rubidium clocks, offering the lowest SWaP clock technology in the industry at 17 cubic centimetres, 35g weight and only 120 milliwatts power requirement. The CSAC product offers ±5.0E-11 accuracy at shipment and a typical = 9.0E-10/month aging rate, which makes it suitable for many low-power atomic clock holdover applications. “The enhancements to our CSAC product offering focus on providing the highest reliability without compromising performance for our customers, particularly in mission critical applications where every milliwatt matters,” said Ramki Ramakrishnan, director of product line management, Microsemi. “These devices utilize an innovative approach to the component level atomic clock that will help Microsemi access the entire oscillator industry, along with Miniature Atomic Clocks (MAC), and capitalize on the revenue growth potential within the defense, communications, industrial and Test & Measurement (T&M) markets.” According to the 'Crystal Oscillator Market—Global Forecast & Analysts' report posted by Markets & Markets, the total available market (TAM) for the overall oscillator market is estimated to be $2.4 billion in 2016, with OCXO markets targeted by CSAC estimated to have a serviceable addressable market (SAM) of $260 million in 2016. The new thermally-improved CSAC products support the company’s strategic presence in the defence and security markets, targeting applications such as low power holdover against GPS vulnerabilities for position, navigation and timing security. They are also suitable for holdover in underwater (ocean bottom nodal) applications and atomic frequency reference in T&M market applications. Said Jackson, president, Jackson Labs Technologies, Inc, added: “Leveraging the unique attributes of Microsemi’s CSAC technology, our company is able to offer an unprecedented combination of holdover, g-sensitivity, low power consumption and warm up performance, while reducing the footprint to less than the critical 0.6 inches height—allowing retrofitting of legacy equipment. The CSAC combined with our battle- and theater-proven software algorithms and support hardware enables vastly extended mission times while providing critical backup performance for GPS-denied environments when even the optional integrated Selective Availability Anti-spoofing Module (SAASM) GPS technology is jammed.”