![]() ![]() Factors include"the background temperature, whether there is magnetic and electric field noise, also the precise influence of gravity, clocks at different heights give different readings due to Einstein's general relativity." They can be using completely different species of atoms - such as aluminum ion, strontium neutral or ytterbium ion, which are just some optical analogues of the microwave clock.īut even if the optical clocks in different labs use the same atoms, the clocks' accuracy depends on how well scientists control the atoms' environment, said Patrick Gill of the National Physical Laboratory in the U.K. The portable clock, which will be installed on aircraft, land vehicles, and satellites, should be “temperature, acceleration, and vibrational noise” proof, while the larger second clock should come in a “transportable package that could fit on a Navy ship or in a field tent.Many national timekeeping laboratories have at least one type of an optical atomic clock ,but the definition of a second does not yet rely on them, partly because it is not yet possible to ensure all of these clocks tick at exactly the same rate.Optical atomic clocks are extremely delicate devices, and also, not all of them are of the same type. The air and land version of the clock should provide picosecond (trillionth of a second) accuracy for 100 seconds while the naval vessel-based variant is required to provide “GPS-equivalent, nanosecond precision for 30 days in the absence of GPS.” But still, it will be about 100 times or so better than current clocks.” Features “We are not aiming for the performance that folks have demonstrated in the lab. The optical clock that we are going to develop, we will definitely sacrifice some of the performance,” she was quoted by the outlet as saying. ![]() “Optical clocks in the lab are more than 100 times better than clocks and GPS. This program could create many of the critical technologies, components, and demonstrations leading to a potential future networked clock architecture.”Ĭurcic told Breaking Defense that the transition will require a “tradeoff” between “extreme precision and usability.” “If we’re successful, these optical clocks would provide a 100x increase in precision, or decrease in timing error, over existing microwave atomic clocks, and demonstrate improved holdover of nanosecond timing precision from a few hours to a month. However, the laboratory models are very complex to operate, requiring the transition “to small and robust versions that can operate outside the lab,” program manager at the DARPA Defense Sciences Office, Tatjana Curcic said. The program aims to replicate the agency’s multi-year work in the field, which has produced laboratory models of far more accurate optical atomic clocks - with a longer period of accuracy - than current atomic clocks. The DARPA-sponsored four-year Robust Optical Clock Network program seeks to develop an optical atomic clock that uses light instead of the microwave to measure the change. Optical Atomic ClockĪ conventional atomic clock uses a microwave beam to measure the frequency of change in an atom’s energy state. The new clock will make the system less reliant on GPS, which is vulnerable to spoofing and jamming in contested environments. The agency aims to develop an alternative to the present GPS satellite-based atomic clock that provides “nanosecond (one billionth of a second) timing accuracy” for platforms such as “missiles, sensors, aircraft, ships, and artillery.” The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is bidding to develop a 100 times more accurate atomic clock for a range of air, land, and sea platforms. ![]()
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