Chip-Based Light Ruler Could Transform Timekeeping, Security
Researchers at NIST have developed a portable, chip-based frequency comb that acts as a precise ruler for light. This technology could enable highly accurate mobile timekeeping and navigation systems for vehicles where GPS is unavailable.
Why it matters
This innovation represents a major step toward miniaturizing atomic clocks, which are critical for future military, industrial, and autonomous navigation technologies.
Microcombs, which act as miniature rulers for light, are fabricated on wafers like the one shown here. Each wafer contains more than 400 chips, with each chip housing up to 300 tiny ring-shaped resonators that form the heart of the new microcomb technology.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and their colleagues have demonstrated a new way to generate a miniature tape measure for light. Unlike previous designs, it can make high-quality optical measurements without needing to be tethered to bulky laboratory equipment. The new device could help revolutionize ultraprecise mobile timekeeping, and in turn, provide vital navigation signals for drones, cars, submarines and other vehicles when GPS is either unavailable or has been jammed.
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