Optical lattice clocks are emerging timekeeping devices based on tens of thousands of ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice (i.e., a grid of laser light). By oscillating between two distinct ...

Now, physicists at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Delaware have developed the most accurate and precise atomic clock yet, using a 'web' of light to ...

A huge breakthrough decades in the making was made just a few months ago, and already scientists are realizing its potential: A measurement of the gap between the quantum energy states of a thorium ...

A research team led by Prof. Chang Hong from the National Time Service Center (NTSC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a strontium optical lattice clock with both frequency ...

NIST/JILA Fellow Jun Ye works on JILA's strontium clock. Ye has been instrumental in making the clock 50 percent more accurate than it was a year ago. Physicists have measured and controlled seemingly ...

Having good neighbors can be very valuable—even in the atomic world. A team of Amsterdam physicists was able to determine an important property of strontium atoms, a highly useful element for modern ...