MOSCOW, November 18 - RIA Novosti . German scientists have created ultra-precise light clock adapted to operate on GPS satellites, and successfully tested their work on the Earth's orbit, which will in the near future to improve the accuracy of determining the position on the map in the hundreds and thousands of times, according to a paper published in the journal Optica .
"Our device is a cornerstone and a platform for the creation of future ultra-precise cosmic clock and distance measurement systems. Optical clocks by us, worked just as well in space as on Earth, which shows that the technology and our engineering skills have coped with their tasks, "- said Lezius Matthias (Matthias Lezius) from the company Menlo Systems in Martinsried (Germany).
The atomic clocks are two electromagnetic ion "trapped" within a few micrometers apart. Scientists "shoot" on the ions of the laser, and the interaction of atoms allows you to select two states - conditional zero and one. Fluctuations between these states is timing. Similar designs can achieve incredible precision measurement of time - modern atomic clock begins to lag or rush to the second only after billions of years.
It tells Lezius, the most reliable and accurate atomic clocks occupy a lot of space and very capriciously carry different vibrations and disturbances that do not allow you to send them into space on board the communication satellites and probes GPS, Galileo, GLONASS and other navigation systems.Therefore, engineers working on these satellites, it is necessary to use a relatively simple atomic clock is the time for the cesium atom vibrations in the microwave range.
Since the microwave radiation has a relatively low frequencies, limiting the accuracy of these watches is very limited. Lezius and colleagues for many years worked hard to replace the microwave lasers in these hours to regular lasers emitting photons of visible light. Irradiation of such lasers atoms or ions can range in the hundreds of thousands of times faster than today's microwave atomic clocks that allow hundreds or thousands of times to increase their accuracy.
© Lezius et al. / Optica 2016
Optical clocks by German scientists
The problem is that such work hours requires that the laser spectrum was similar to the original brush. This can be achieved on Earth using a very expensive and cumbersome system of lasers, similar to a box the size of one meter on. Naturally, the sending of such a laser into space - a very difficult and actually very heavy task.
Only now are scientists, including Russian physicists have begun to create a miniature likeness of such systems using metamaterials and plasmons, but they are not yet ready for practical application.
German scientists were able to significantly reduce the size of the laser "boxes", squeezing it to a size of 22 by 14 centimeters and reducing the weight to 22 kg. This was achieved using a special fiber designed them specifically for this purpose, and a set of miniature lasers that can emit pulses trililliardnye long fraction of a second.
Combining these two laser with atomic clocks based on rubidium and cesium, the researchers sent them into space aboard rockets TEXUS-51 and TEXUS-53, launched into orbit in April last year and January of this year from the spaceport in Sweden. The experiments in orbit showed that these watches are really working in space, and that their accuracy will exceed the corresponding figures for the "ordinary" atomic clocks in the hundreds and thousands of times after the improvement of their design.
The following year, German physicists plan to send an improved version of these hours in space, which this time will work in full vacuum. Similar tests as Lezius explains necessary to verify whether can "light" work hours under full vacuum, and the constant bombardment of cosmic rays and charged particles.
No comments:
Post a Comment