NIST Team Compares 3 Top Atomic Clocks With Record Accuracy Over Both Fiber and Air | NIST

NIST researchers precisely compared the signals from three optical atomic clocks over air and optical fiber, with two of the clocks (indicated by Yb and Al+/Mg+) located in different NIST-Boulder laboratories, and a third (Sr) located 1.5 kilometers away at JILA. Credit: N. Hanacek/NIST

In a significant advance toward the future redefinition of the international unit of time, the second, a research team led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has compared three of the world’s leading atomic clocks with record accuracy over both air and optical fiber links.

Described in the March 25 issue of Nature, the NIST-led work is the first to compare three clocks based on different atoms, and the first to link the most advanced atomic clocks in different locations over the air. These atomic clock comparisons place the scientific community one step closer to meeting the guidelines for redefinition of the second.

 

Source: NIST Team Compares 3 Top Atomic Clocks With Record Accuracy Over Both Fiber and Air | NIST