ATOMIC CLOCK

By SAAD GILLANI
 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