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![]() ![]() ![]() 'During the optical clock's downtimes, the maser runs on its own stably.' 'We compared the continuously running maser with our optical clock and corrected the maser frequency as long as we had data available from the optical clock,' said Dr Grebing. To make the clocks more reliable, the researchers used a 'maser' - a laser producing microwaves rather than visible light - alongside the optical clock.ĭuring the times the optical clock was not working, the maser continued to tick to 'bridge the gap' left by the atomic clock. To fully exploit the potential of optical clocks for global timekeeping the methods of time distribution must also be pushed forward.īecause the frequencies are higher, the number of ticks counted over time is much greater, corresponding to a more accurate and stable clock.īut optical clocks are much more technically complex, and so they experience more 'downtimes' - periods of not functioning. 'We show that these local timescales can strongly benefit from the use of optical atomic clocks even if they are in the development stage' lead author Dr Christian Grebing told MailOnline.īut if all the time labs would switch to optical clocks the performance of UTC would be limited by the conventional satellite means of comparing these local timescales. Today, the global timescale UTC is derived from comparison results of more than 70 local timescales operated by time labs all over the world involving more than 500 traditional atomic clocks. The atom cesium, which has a frequency in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum, is traditionally used for atomic clocks. 'Usually, this is not the kind of instrument that you want to implement in a fairly rigid timekeeping infrastructure.Ĭlocks work by counting a recurrent event with a known frequency, like the swinging of a pendulum.Ītomic clocks use the universal vibration of atoms, which have different frequencies, the number of vibrations every second, depending on the atom used. 'We want them to be flexible such that we can try out exciting new techniques or implement the most recent developments, which typically prevents them from being overly reliable. 'At the moment, optical clocks are rather complex laboratory devices under permanent development,' Dr Grebing told MailOnline. The researchers at the National Metrology Institute of Germany have now published a way to use these more accurate optical atomic clocks in practical ways. However, optical clocks do experience significant downtimes because of their higher technical complexity. These higher frequencies mean optical clocks 'tick' faster than microwave atomic clocks, and this contributes to their higher accuracy and stability over time. They use atoms or ions that oscillate about 100,000 times higher than microwave frequencies, in the optical, or visible, part of the electromagnetic spectrum. ![]() Optical clocks work in a similar way to microwave clocks. Using the new technique, the researchers say it may be possible to cut this to just a handful of 'lost seconds'. To put this into context, when currently estimating the age of the universe - which is around 13.8 billion years old - researchers estimate they 'lose' around 100 seconds or so due to the uncertainty of exactly how long a second is. The change will see the amount of error in estimating the length of a second reducing from 0.25 quadrilliionths of a second - that is 0.25 with 15 zeros in front of it - by a factor of ten. They say that by reducing the amount of uncertainty in how long a second is, it means they will be able to make much more accurate estimates of how long events take. Now German scientists have come up with a way of using a device known as an optical atomic clock to measure the second more accurately. Since 1967, the International System of Units (SI) has defined the second as the time that elapses during 9,192,631,770 cycles of the microwave signal produced by these oscillations. Clocks work by counting a recurrent event with a known frequency, such as the swinging of a pendulum.įor traditional atomic clocks, the recurrent event is the natural oscillation of the cesium atom, which has a frequency in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
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