Scientists working on accurate atomic clock the size of Rubik’s cube

Scientists from MIT and Draper Laboratory are working on an atomic clock potentially the size of a Rubik’s cube. The researchers want to reduce the traditional atomic clock by measuring not seconds, but ten milliseconds at a time.

The atomic clock will not be as accurate for a long time as the large atomic clocks that indicate the precise time worldwide, but according to them it will be almost as precise as the clocks that are used in GPS satellites, for example. In addition, it must be possible to carry the atomic clock in, for example, a backpack.

That requires that the clock can take a beating. Like large atomic clocks, the smaller clock must work by passing radio waves through cesium atoms. The researchers want to make the clock smaller by not shooting the atoms one meter into the air to measure a second, but much less high to measure 10 milliseconds. The scientists then measure this with a laser beam.

According to the researchers, the atomic clock is stable for ‘a day or a week’ and that would be especially useful for applications where it is not possible to synchronize an atomic clock, such as underwater. The atomic clock is not ready yet.