University of Ottawa

Purpose

The faster a clock ticks and the more protected it is from the environment, the more accurately we can read the clock. Currently the world’s standard clock is an atomic clock. It ticks at approximately 10,000,000,000 times per second. It is the accuracy of the atomic clock that allows the GPS navigation system that we all use. A frequency comb is a laser device that translates the tick rate of the atomic clock into about 200,000,000 Hz intervals up to approximately 20,000,000,000,000,000 times per second while still maintaining the accuracy of the atomic clock to which it is synced. Therefore, a comb plays a role similar to the gears of an old fashion mechanical clock. With the gear works in place, the world is free to select a new standard that is more accurate than the current atomic clock. However, comb technology for the last factor of 100 is very difficult to use, so, when the next world standard is agreed upon, it will tick at only approximately 400,000,000,000,000 per second. The project will study a means to simplifying the last factor of 100. If the project is successful, the best clocks will eventually become nuclear clocks where all of an atom’s electrons are used to shield the clock element – the nucleus – from environmental noise.