Atomic clock styled by microcomb

The so-called microcomb clock is claimed to be the first demonstration of all-optical control of the microcomb, and its accurate conversion of optical frequencies to lower microwave frequencies.

According to NIST, the new clock architecture might eventually be used to make portable tools for calibrating frequencies of advanced telecommunications systems or provide microwave signals to boost stability and resolution in radar, navigation and scientific instruments. The technology also has potential to combine good timekeeping precision with very small size. Furthermore, the comb clock might be a component of future ‘NIST on a chip’ technologies offering multiple measurement methods and standards in a portable form.

‘The microcomb clock is one way we might get precision frequency metrology tools out of the lab and into real-world settings,’ NIST physicist Scott Diddams said in a statement.

Frequency combs produce precisely defined colours, or frequencies, of light that are evenly spaced throughout the comb’s range. The original combs required relatively large lasers that produced rapid, extremely short pulses of light, but more recently NIST and other laboratories have developed much smaller microcombs.