Singapore team builds lutetium atomic clock
A team at the National University of Singapore developed an atomic clock using the element lutetium and says it is the world’s most stable and accurate to date, able to measure time to one-trillionth of a second. Each clock uses a single charged Lu+ ion and a laser tuned to an 848 nanometre clock transition. The group carried out a 200-hour comparison using correlation spectroscopy and report that lutetium’s transition is highly resistant to temperature and magnetic field variations. If validated widely, the clock could affect navigation, timing infrastructure and fundamental physics experiments.
Lutetium clock measures time to one-trillionth of a second.
Context
Early atomic clocks used caesium, and scientists moved to faster optical atoms like ytterbium and strontium to improve accuracy. The Singapore team tested lutetium for over a decade and compared clocks for 200 hours. Next, other labs may…
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