World's smallest atomic clock!

From the creator

Clocks and watches - they are our everyday companions, our faithful time keepers. We regulate our lives according to them. But are they totally trustworthy? Can a precise and perfect timepiece ever exist? The answer is the atomic clock, which Swiss scientists are developing at CSEM (Centre Suisse d'électronique et microtechnique) in the Swiss city of Neuchatel. The atomic clock measures time accurately, because it relies on the radiation emitted by atoms. It means that the frequency emitted by atoms of hydrogen are measured, and that gives the reference for the time. The original version of the atomic clock, built in the 90s, was the size of a household washing machine. But CSEM scientists working in Neuchatel's old astronomical observatory are moving steadily towards the progressive miniaturisation of the atomic clock. Their goal is to reduce it to the size of a sugar cube. Miniaturisation will greatly reduce manufacturing costs and power consumption allowing this technology to be used more widely, possibly it could even enter the consumer market in battery-operated devices, like GPS or smart phones. According to physicist Steve Lecomte, what is known as the heart of the clock is key. It has to be reduced in size to nearly a millimetre: "Minitiarisation is useful in order to put atomic clocks in more instruments and mobile devices. Our ultimate goal here at CSEM is work towards having an atomic timepiece in a wrist-watch." Scientists not only hope to install atomi

Published 2013-04-05 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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