Strontium atomic clock demonstrates super-fine 'ticks'

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In JILAs new optical atomic clock blue laser light is used to cool and trap strontium atoms as the first step before loading them into a lattice made of light. The blue light and fluorescing atoms are visible in the magnetic-optical trap located insi ...
In JILA's new optical atomic clock, blue laser light is used to cool and trap strontium atoms as the first step before loading them into a "lattice" made of light. The blue light and fluorescing atoms are visible in the magnetic-optical trap, located inside a vacuum chamber. Credit: NIST

Using an ultra-stable laser to manipulate strontium atoms trapped in a "lattice" made of light, scientists at JILA have demonstrated the capability to produce the most precise "ticks" ever recorded in an optical atomic clock—techniques that may be useful in time keeping, precision measurements of high frequencies, and quantum computers using neutral atoms as bits of information.


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