Quantum timekeeping has reached a new threshold, with trapped-ion clocks now accurate to the 19th decimal place and a ...

An NIST physicist holds the newly modified ion trap for the aluminum ion clock. By modifying the trap, the aluminum ion and its magnesium ion partner could 'tick' unperturbed. Optical atomic clocks ...

The way time is measured is on the edge of a historic upgrade. At the heart of this change is a new kind of atomic clock that uses light instead of microwaves. This shift means timekeeping could ...

Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) say they have created the most accurate atomic clock to date — one that can measure time down to the 19th decimal place.

element are often held in a glass vacuum chamber whose walls are coated to prevent the atoms’ collision with the walls from altering their internal compositions. Inevitably, however, such collisions ...

For many years, cesium atomic clocks have been reliably keeping time around the world. But the future belongs to even more accurate clocks: optical atomic clocks. In a few years' time, they could ...