ATOMIC CLOCK

By SAAD GILLANI

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018

 DEFINITION
“Atomic clock is an extremely precise clock whose rate is controlled by a
periodic process, such as vibration, or the absorption or emission of
electromagnetic radiation that occurs at a steady rate in atoms or
molecules.”

1 SECOND IN SI-UNIT:
The International System of Units (SI) defines the second as the time it
takes a caesium-133 atom in a precisely defined state to oscillate exactly:
9 billion, 192 million, 631 thousand, 770 times.

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC TIME (TAI):

International Atomic Time (TAI) is a time scale that uses the
combined output of some 400 highly precise atomic clocks. It provides the
exact speed at which our clocks tick.
 HISTORY

In 1955 the first cesium-beam clock was placed in operation at the National
Physical Laboratory at Eddington, England. It is estimated that such a clock
would gain or lose less than a second in three million years.

The idea of using atomic transitions to measure time was suggested by Lord
Kelvin in 1879, resonance, developed in the 1930s by Isidor Rabi, became
the practical method for doing this. In 1945, Rabi first publicly suggested
that atomic beam magnetic resonance might be used as the basis of a
clock.

ACCURACY

The accuracy of atomic clocks varies and is constantly improving. With an

expected error of only 1 second in about 100 million years, the NIST-F1 in
Boulder, Colorado, is one of the world's most precise clocks.

PRINCIPLE AND WORKING

In an atomic clock, the natural oscillations of atoms act like the pendulum in
a grandfather clock. However, atomic clocks are far more precise than
conventional clocks because atomic oscillations have a much higher
frequency and are much more stable.

I. HEATING AND SORTING:

First, the atoms are heated in an oven and bundled into
a beam. Each atom has one of two possible energy states. They are
referred to as hyperfine levels, but let's call them state A and state B. A
magnetic field then removes all atoms in state B from the beam, so only
atoms in state A remain.

The state-A atoms are sent through a resonator where they are subjected to
microwave radiation, which triggers some of the atoms to change to state B.
Behind the resonator, atoms that are still in state A are removed by a
second magnetic field. A detector then counts all atoms that have changed
to state B.

II. TUNNING AND MEASURING:

 The percentage of atoms that change their state while passing through
the resonator depends on the frequency of the microwave radiation.
The more it is in sync with the inherent oscillation frequency of the
atoms, the more atoms change their state.
The goal is to perfectly tune the microwave frequency to the oscillation
of the atoms, and then measure it. After exactly 9,192,631,770
oscillations, a second has passed.

ADVANTAGES AND USAGE

 Atomic clocks are the most accurate time and frequency standards
known, and they are used as primary standards for international time
distribution services. They are used to control the wave frequency of
television broadcasts, and they are used in the global navigation
satellite systems such as GPS.
 They also used in the communications industry where faster data rates
require more precise timing.
 They are used in the space navigation and the communications
between the satellites
 Atomic clocks are also used in the mobile telephone, the land line
telephones, the internet, the aviation programs, and the digital
television.
But the real benefits of using the optical atomic clocks comes in when
one looks at the implications of increased precision in the scientific
measurements