SLATE: Strontium Lattice for Commercial Optical Clocks

从实现无卫星导航到保护电子金融交易的完整性，精确定时在经济中发挥着至关重要的作用。目前最先进的商业计时系统使用微波频率原子钟，但商业光学频率原子钟预计将在未来4年内上市，有望比目前技术提高100倍或更好。这将使潜艇导航的精度从24小时内的2公里提高到几个月内的100米。它还将防止由于金融部门的时间错误而造成的数百万英镑的损失。在这个项目中，M Squared Lasers将与伯明翰大学合作，设计和制造基于锶原子的商用原子钟的核心部件。作为新量子技术开发领域的先行者，我们将开发紧凑的真空室、稳定的激光源和强大的电子封装，以促进更广泛地采用最先进的新型精确定时技术。

Precision timing plays a vital role in the economy, from enabling satellite-free navigation to protecting the integrity of electronic financial trading. The current state-of-the-art commercial timing systems use microwave frequency atomic clocks, but commercial optical frequency atomic clocks are expected to be available within the next 4 years, promising a 100x improvement or better over current technology. This will enable submarine navigation to improve from 2 km accuracy over a 24 hr period to 100 m accuracy over several months. It will also prevent millions of pounds in losses due to timing errors in the financial sector. In this project, M Squared Lasers, together with the University of Birmingham, will design and build the core components of a commercial atomic clock based on the strontium atom. As forerunners in this field of new quantum technology development, we will develop compact vacuum chambers, stable laser sources, and robust electronics packages that will facilitate wider adoption of a new precision timing state-of-the-art.