Optical Atomic Clocks from China are designed to achieve an accuracy of one part in a trillion seconds on Earth, equivalent to being off by just one second after 30 billion years.
The atomic clock from the USA uses strontium to keep time. (Photo: Science Photo Library)
If successful in evaluation, the atomic clock developed by a team of experts led by the National Time Service Center in Xi’an will be launched to the Tiangong space station in October for advanced physics research. This device will also contribute to the development of a timing network along with the BeiDou navigation satellites and ground facilities in the coming years, enhancing accuracy by more than four times. Optical atomic clocks enable faster communication and positioning, playing a crucial role in national defense.
Currently, researchers are awaiting test results to determine how well the device functions in space. The testing process began in late April 2022. Jun Ye, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado Boulder, stated that achieving similar accuracy in space is very challenging. Ye leads the team developing the world’s most accurate optical clock in the laboratory.
According to him, developing smaller and lighter optical clocks for use in space is very different from using them in the laboratory. The main challenge is how to achieve a compact size while maintaining robust operational capabilities. According to Xinhua, the optical clock developed for the Tiangong station must be 20 times smaller than those in the laboratory to fit on the station’s experimental rack.
Historically, humans have utilized natural phenomena with regular oscillation cycles to keep time, such as the rotation of the Earth and the movement of stars for thousands of years. The first atomic clock was invented in 1949 to measure time by tracking the extremely stable radiation frequency of atoms. Today, satellite positioning and internet timing rely heavily on atomic clocks. European scientists are also participating in a project called Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space, aimed at deploying a network of atomic clocks to the International Space Station.
