Researchers in Australia have successfully tested a new type of portable atomic clock at sea, using technology that could help power the next generation of navigation, communications and scientific systems.
The portable optical atomic clock, once trialed aboard a Royal Australian Navy vessel in July 2024, uses laser-cooled atoms of the element ytterbium to keep time with extreme precision, according to a statement released Tuesday by Australia's Adelaide University.
Atomic clocks are the world's most accurate timekeepers, vital for satellite navigation and telecommunications, but they usually require controlled lab conditions. The new device overcomes that limitation and can be achieved in a portable system that operates outside the laboratory, it said.
By cooling the atoms with lasers and measuring a very specific atomic transition, the clock can track time far more accurately than conventional systems, said researchers from Adelaide University's Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS).
The goal was to take cutting-edge laboratory technology and make it usable in the field, said Professor Andre Luiten, IPAS chief innovator and lead researcher of the study published in the journal Optica.
Despite the motion and environmental changes typical of a maritime environment, the clock maintained the same high level of performance observed during laboratory testing, the researchers said.
"The marine environment presents vibration, movement and temperature changes that are very different from a controlled laboratory. Successfully running the clock in those conditions shows that the technology is robust and ready to move closer to real-world applications," Luiten said.
