Light-induced shifts of a quantum frequency standard with optical pulse pumping and optical display of a Ramsey line with suppressed side maxima

A theoretical analysis is made of a quantum frequency standard (QFS) pumped by optical pulses. The standard has an optical display of the Ramsey structure of an active transition line in which the side maxima are suppressed. It is shown that the light-induced shifts of this standard can be reduced considerably compared with the shifts exhibited by an ordinary QFS with a continuous pumping display. A two-level idealization of the ground state of the active atoms is used to obtain a general expression for the line profile which is valid for any pulse parameters of practical interest.