14 DAY TRIAL // US physicists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently demonstrated that it's possible to operate super-stable laser configurations inside cramped and vibrating environments, such as for example a minivan.
This achievement is only the first step towards taking atomic clocks – the most precise instruments we have available for measuring time – out on the field. These devices can be used for a host of tasks.
These include testing concepts pertaining to fundamental physics, improving radar operations, and conducting surveys in hydrology and geodesy. At this point, using the clocks is impossible due to their sensitivity to shocks, and their delicate nature.
The minivan in which the NIST team installed the laser traveled only about 5 meters forward, but it did so on grassy terrain outside the Institute's Boulder, Colorado-based campus. The car moved at a speed of about 3.6 kilometers per hour, less than a meter per second.
In a paper published in the latest issue of the esteemed journal Optics Express, investigators say that they conducted measurements of the laser's performances in several instances, and over multiple time frames, Science Blog reports.
The device's frequency remained stable when the engine was off, idling or running, including when the car was traveling over the uneven surface of the lawn. The most stable results were naturally recorded when the vehicle was parked.
This is nothing but good news, NIST postdoctoral researcher David Leibrandt says, since most studies conducted in the field will be carried out from stationary vehicles. There is rarely a need to conduct such research while traveling at 160 miles per hour.
“Our group has been building and using ultra-stable lasers for more than 10 years, but they’re large and delicate,. The ones we use for our optical atomic clocks occupy a small room and have to be very carefully isolated from seismic and acoustic vibrations,” he says.
“This paper presents a new design that is less sensitive to vibrations and could be made much smaller,” the investigator adds. He explains that the new design relies on accelerometers to make the necessary calculation so that it constantly emits light at the same frequencies.
Still, in the current version of the device, is takes about 100 microseconds for the corrections to be made, which is quite a lot. Future designs will undoubtedly improve this performance, NIST experts say.