GoKawiil
Tech News
Researchers in Singapore have created an atomic clock capable of measuring time with unprecedented accuracy, reaching the 19th decimal place. This new device surpasses all previous records for precision in timekeeping.
Researchers at Singapore's Centre for Quantum Technologies, led by Murray Barrett, report building a lutetium-based atomic clock that outperforms previous record-holding clocks made with ytterbium, strontium and aluminum. The findings were published in Nature on September 23. The clock works by locking a laser to lutetium's atomic transition frequency, which then serves as an ultra-precise timekeeping reference.
Physicists have built an optical atomic clock based on the rare-earth element lutetium that would drift by less than one second over roughly 260 billion years, making it the most precise timekeeper reported so far. The clock measures time using the frequency of visible light absorbed by lutetium atoms. Researchers say its design is stable enough that they aim to miniaturize it for use outside the laboratory.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have built an optical atomic clock using lutetium ions that is four times more precise than the previous record-holder, a calcium-ion clock. The device would lose less than a second over roughly 260 billion years, making it the most accurate timekeeper reported to date, according to a study published in Nature on September 23.