A 400 MHz Atomic Hydrogen Source

The Hydrogen maser is a frequency standard with the highest frequency stability. The atomic Hydrogen beam for the maser is realized with a RF discharge (400 MHz) produced between the plates of the condenser of a capacitively loaded coaxial cavity. The molecular Hydrogen is stored in a FeTi hydrure bottle at a pressure of 0.2 MPa. After the passage of a Palladium leak the pressure is reduced in the range of 0.1 Torr, ie the pressure in the discharge tube, where the molecular Hydrogen is dissociated, resulting the atomic Hydrogen beam. The electronic part controls the pressure in the discharge in order to control the atomic beam intensity.We studied the dependence of the maser level and the discharge luminosity against the power in the discharge. We found that for a given pressure, the maser oscillation level is constant after a certain power level is exceeded. We concluded that a RF discharge is very convenient to use because: -The cavity ensures a good shielding which limit the parasitic field in the maser room at a very low value. -The cavity allows us to know the discharge parameters -The cavity ensure a good cooling of the discharge tube -The dissociation rate increases with frequency and the breakdown is very easy to obtain