中文摘要：

主动光钟是一种在腔反馈条件下以工作于原子跃迁谱线的光频受激辐射直接作为量子频率标准的新型原子光钟,有望将传统光钟稳定度提高2个量级,从而推动光钟的技术进步,应用更趋广泛.本文简述了光钟的发展历程及目前的关键技术瓶颈;介绍了主动光钟的基本原理;讨论了主动光钟的几种实验方案,包括坏腔二能级、三能级激光型主动光钟、四能级主动光钟和法拉第主动光钟等方案,详细分析了这些方案的实验原理和结果;除了介绍基于铯原子气室的法拉第原子滤光器实现主动光钟的实验研究结果,同时还简单描述了用魔术晶格囚禁冷锶原子实现基于689 nm超窄法拉第原子滤光器的主动光钟方案,以及工作于好腔条件下的法拉第光钟.最后,将这几种方案进行了综合分析与对比,展望了主动光钟进一步发展的前景和潜在应用.

英文摘要：

Active optical clocks, a new class of optical atomic clocks, work through stimulated emission lasing, a unique mechanism that is distinct from laser absorption spectroscopy of conventional optical clocks. With coherent weak optical feedback from a Fabry-Perot resonator operating in the bad-cavity regime, active optical clocks sustain a lasing oscillation at an atomic transition frequency. They are used directly as quantum optical frequency standards with expected stability better by about two orders of magnitude than that of the best clocks. This review starts with a simplified account of historical developments and the limitations of critical techniques in optical atomic clocks. After an introduction of the basic mechanism underlying active optical clocks, we discuss the most recent experimental results for several configurations and experimental set-ups of active optical clocks. These include those based on a 2-level atomic beam and 3-level laser-cooled trapped-atom system, those based on a 4-level atom scheme, and the Faraday active optical clock. Moreover, following the successful lasing and preliminary results on a Faraday active optical frequency standard with Faraday atomic filter using thermal Cs cell, we describe an experimental scheme of a Faraday active optical clock with a Faraday atomic filter using magic-lattice-trapped Sr atoms at the 689-nm transition, and Faraday optical clocks operating in the good-cavity regime. We conclude with a comprehensive comparison of the different active optical clocks, prospects for active Faraday optical clocks, and potential applications of active optical clocks.