CAS researchers develop CPT clock with improved performance
A research team led by Prof. GU Sihong with the CAS Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics (WIPM) has made important progress in developing a CPT clock with better performance. The feat has made it comparable with the similar devices on the international market regarding major indicators such as stability and power consumption.
CPT clock is a new kind of atomic clock using the coherent population trapping (CPT) principle. At present, it appears to be the method of choice for miniature atomic clocks in principle. Now the CPT clock could be as small as a watch powered by a bottom cell battery. This provides a bright prospect for the application of the device in a large telecommunication system and the synchronization of a large-scale telecommunication network. When being used in GPS receivers, for instance, the CPT frequency standard could remarkably upgrade the precision of its navigation and positioning.
WIPM researchers developed China's first prototype of CPT clock in 2006. Now they are striving to improve fabrication technology and design indexes so as to make it meet the needs of practical applications.
