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The researchers presented a new standard for measuring time based on scandium.
An international team of scientists has taken a crucial step towards creating a new generation of atomic clocks. Using the European X-ray laser XFEL, the researchers created a more accurate pulse generator based on the element scandium. This will allow us to achieve an accuracy of one second in 300 billion years, which is about a thousand times more accurate than a modern standard caesium-based atomic clock. The results were published on September 27 in the journal Nature.
How do modern atomic clocks work?
Today's atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks in the world. Their work uses the electrons of the atomic envelope of chemical elements such as caesium to determine time. To do this, the electrons are excited by microwaves of a known frequency. Modern caesium clocks maintain their accuracy to within one second per 300 million years.
Breakthrough using scandium
Using the European X-ray laser XFEL, scientists were able to excite a transition in the scandium core, which requires X-rays with an energy of 12.4 kiloelectronvolts. Such a resonance provides an accuracy of 1: 10,000,000,000,000. "The accuracy corresponds to one second in 300 billion years," says DESY researcher Ralf Relsberger.
Applications and future prospects
Atomic clocks have many applications, especially in the field of precise satellite navigation. Yuri Shvydko of Argonne National Laboratory in the United States points out that the scientific potential of scandium resonance was identified more than 30 years ago. Research in this area can open up new horizons not only for atomic clocks, but also for ultra-high-precision spectroscopy.
The project was implemented with the participation of many international educational institutions and research centers, including Argonne National Laboratory in the USA, Helmholtz Institute in Jena, Texas A&M University and others.
An international team of scientists has taken a crucial step towards creating a new generation of atomic clocks. Using the European X-ray laser XFEL, the researchers created a more accurate pulse generator based on the element scandium. This will allow us to achieve an accuracy of one second in 300 billion years, which is about a thousand times more accurate than a modern standard caesium-based atomic clock. The results were published on September 27 in the journal Nature.
How do modern atomic clocks work?
Today's atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks in the world. Their work uses the electrons of the atomic envelope of chemical elements such as caesium to determine time. To do this, the electrons are excited by microwaves of a known frequency. Modern caesium clocks maintain their accuracy to within one second per 300 million years.
Breakthrough using scandium
Using the European X-ray laser XFEL, scientists were able to excite a transition in the scandium core, which requires X-rays with an energy of 12.4 kiloelectronvolts. Such a resonance provides an accuracy of 1: 10,000,000,000,000. "The accuracy corresponds to one second in 300 billion years," says DESY researcher Ralf Relsberger.
Applications and future prospects
Atomic clocks have many applications, especially in the field of precise satellite navigation. Yuri Shvydko of Argonne National Laboratory in the United States points out that the scientific potential of scandium resonance was identified more than 30 years ago. Research in this area can open up new horizons not only for atomic clocks, but also for ultra-high-precision spectroscopy.
The project was implemented with the participation of many international educational institutions and research centers, including Argonne National Laboratory in the USA, Helmholtz Institute in Jena, Texas A&M University and others.
