Abstract

The precision of HV voltmeters based on voltage dividers is limited by the systematic errors induced by nonlinear currents and resistive drift. Therefore we take a different approach by accelerating ions with the potential to be measured. The resulting fast ion beam is collinearily superposed with a diode laser beam tuned to an optical resonance of the ions. Comparison to a cesium stabilized reference laser yields the absolute laser frequency to within a MHz. Now the accelerating voltage can be determined via the dopplershift of the optical resonance. Thus collinear laser spectroscopy [1] translates the voltage measurement to an absolute determination of an optical frequency.

© 1998 IEEE