Atomic Clocks & Timing

ATOMIC CLOCKS & TIMING

AFRL’s Quantum Sensing & Timing (QST) group looks into the development of advanced atomic clocks to further improve time measurements and investigates ways to use and distribute the precise time.

What time do you have?

Our team is developing the next generation of clocks with enhanced stability and techniques to transmit time synchronization precisely across distant platforms.

Precise timekeeping is the backbone of modern telecommunications, banking technologies, and navigation systems. The most stable and precise clocks on the planet can keep time without losing a single second over the age of the universe.

However, advanced quantum clocks are often large and power hungry, which has kept them confined to laboratory environments. We are developing technologies that will reduce the size and complexity of advanced clocks while also refining techniques to more accurately transfer time in real-world environments.