Scientists have taken a major step toward the ambitious global goal of “redefining the second” by the end of this decade. A ...

Every clock in your house probably tells a slightly different time. Now picture those clocks as the most precise instruments humanity has ever built, so accurate that they wouldn't lose or gain a ...

In a new study, researchers carried out the most extensive coordinated comparison of optical clocks to date by operating ...

The time we now use around the world is called Universal time, or UT. It was formalized a century ago — here's how it works.

While some are enhancements to original atomic-clock architectures based on controlling ... in the 171Yb+ isotope of the rare-earth ytterbium (Fig. 3). Their dual-comb system can potentially ...

The European Space Agency’s ACES mission could ultimately pave the way for a global network of atomic clocks that make these measurements far more accurate. In 2003, engineers from Germany and ...

A new atomic clock is one of the world’s best timekeepers, researchers say — and after years of development, the “fountain”-style clock is now in use helping keep official U.S. time.

At the heart of this change is a new kind of atomic clock that uses light ... one indium ion that acts as the "clock" and three ytterbium ions that cool it down. These ions interact to form ...

This development marks a significant step toward deployable, low-power atomic clock systems that can be ... amplified using a Ytterbium (Yb)-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) bulk crystal ...

Recent research and development efforts have produced prototypes of miniature microwave ion clocks, a relatively new form of atomic clock technology that measures time with ground state energy level ...

“optical clocks are about 100 times more accurate than the current standard of caesium atomic clocks”. At NPL, Tofful’s optical clock has a single ytterbium ion trapped at its core which is ...