ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
A time scale is a procedure for accurately and continuously marking the passage of time. It is exemplified by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and provides the backbone for critical navigation tools such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). Present time scales employ microwave atomic clocks, whose attributes can be combined and averaged in a manner such that the composite is more stable, accurate, and reliable than the output of any individual clock. Over the past decade, clocks operating at optical frequencies have been introduced which are orders of magnitude more stable than any microwave clock. However, in spite of their great potential, these optical clocks cannot be operated continuously, which makes their use in a time scale problematic. In this paper, we report the development of a hybrid microwave-optical time scale, which only requires the optical clock to run intermittently while relying upon the ensemble of microwave clocks to serve as the flywheel oscillator. The benefit of using clock ensemble as the flywheel oscillator, instead of a single clock, can be understood by the Dick-effect limit. This time scale demonstrates for the first time sub-nanosecond accuracy for a few months, attaining a fractional frequency uncertainty of 1.45*10-16 at 30 days and reaching the 10-17 decade at 50 days, with respect to UTC. This time scale significantly improves the accuracy in timekeeping and could change the existing time-scale architectures.
This paper discusses how to build a time scale with an intermittently-operated optical clock. In particular, it gives suggestions on how long and how often to run an optical clock. It also explores the benefits of having an optical clock in a time sc
Time scales consistently provide precise time stamps and time intervals by combining atomic frequency standards with a reliable local oscillator. Optical frequency standards, however, have not been applied to the generation of time scales, although t
Optical clocks are not only powerful tools for prime fundamental research, but are also deemed for the re-definition of the SI base unit second as they now surpass the performance of caesium atomic clocks in both accuracy and stability by more than a
We demonstrate a time scale based on a phase stable optical carrier that accumulates an estimated time error of $48pm94$ ps over 34 days of operation. This all-optical time scale is formed with a cryogenic silicon cavity exhibiting improved long-term
We develop differential measurement protocols that circumvent the laser noise limit in the stability of optical clock comparisons by synchronous probing of two clocks using phase-locked local oscillators. This allows for probe times longer than the l