NIST Researchers Develop Miniature Light Tape Measure for Mobile Timekeeping
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and collaborators have demonstrated a novel method to create a miniature tape measure for light, which could transform ultraprecise mobile timekeeping and navigation for various vehicles.
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According to NIST News, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have shown a new method for generating a miniature tape measure for light. This new device is capable of making high-quality optical measurements without being connected to large laboratory apparatus, as noted by NIST News. The development could potentially revolutionize ultraprecise mobile timekeeping, which in turn could supply essential navigation signals to vehicles such as cars, drones, and submarines when GPS is unavailable or experiencing jamming.
These miniature instruments, referred to as microchip frequency combs, produce a range of precise, evenly spaced colors that function like markings on a ruler to measure light frequencies with exceptional accuracy. Frequency combs are necessary parts of optical atomic clocks, which generate highly accurate timing signals. Beyond timekeeping, mobile optical clocks have potential uses in areas like military navigation and the exploration of oil, gas, and minerals, according to NIST News.
In their methodology, scientists from NIST and JQI, which is a research collaboration between NIST and the University of Maryland, direct light from two lasers around a small ring called a microresonator. The light interacts with itself in a manner that results in the evenly spaced "tick marks" characteristic of a comb. This technique bypasses an issue present in earlier methods that used only a single laser, which needed extra, energy-intensive equipment to generate stable, high-quality tick marks.
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