![]() Roger McKinlay, Challenge Director - Quantum Technologies at UKRI comments: "Small, low cost atomic clocks will be essential as we develop a resilient Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) infrastructure to support our financial, power distribution and communications services. Our current collaboration with Wideblue and our academic partners aims to address the scalability of one such atomic clock by reducing the optical constraints into scalable micro-fabricated components as a critical step to bringing laboratory performance out into real world applications.” As state-of-the-art atomic clocks push new boundaries in precision measurement, we face a new challenge of bringing this complex and large physical apparatus into a compact and user-friendly system where we can make the largest societal and economic impact. James McGilligan from Kelvin Nanotechnology, who is the lead partner on this project, explains “Atomic clocks are an integral component in modern technology and impact our daily routines from computing and financial transactions to the navigation systems we use in our phones and cars. Accurate, resilient timing will ensure huge improvements for a range of end-user applications, such as satellite-free navigation, ultra-high precision timing for financial trades and exceptionally precise gravimeters for sub-surface detection.”ĭr. Kai Bongs, Principal Investigator at the University of Birmingham-led UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing, and Co-Investigator for this project, said: “We are delighted to continue progress in simplifying and miniaturising atomic clock technology. The University of Strathclyde will design the gMOT chip, and the University of Birmingham will perform the testing of the prototype optical system. Kelvin Nanotechnology will manufacture the gMOT and compact collimation optics designed by Wideblue. Wideblue’s role in the project is to develop the optical system that will deliver the laser light onto the gMOT chip. In simple terms, the narrower the atomic transition the more accurate the atomic clock. ![]() To achieve such high timing resolution, the atomic clock makes use of ultra-narrow transitions in strontium atoms, providing orders of magnitude better performance than their rubidium counterparts due to narrower atomic features. Each satellite network contains multiple atomic clocks that contribute precision timing data, which is decoded to provide location data by effectively synchronizing each receivers’ atomic clocks with those of the satellite. Due to the high level of accuracy in these instruments, atomic clocks are used to coordinate systems that require extreme precision, such as GNSS. The new clock technology will help improve Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) location accuracy as well as addressing the scalability of other quantum technologies being developed at the University of Strathclyde and University of Birmingham.Ītomic clocks are the ultimate timekeepers, with the state-of-the-art instruments providing a timing accuracy that it would neither gain nor lose a second in over 30 million years. The research is funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, part of UK Research and Innovation. The University of Birmingham is a partner in the project, which is led by nanofabrication experts Kelvin Nanotechnology, and also involves product design specialist Wideblue and the University of Strathclyde. A project to develop techniques to miniaturise and enhance the accuracy of optical atomic clocks has been launched in a new research partnership.
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