Compact optics for high performance portable atomic timing and quantum sensors

精确的定时是现代基础设施各个方面的关键，从国家电网到电信，到金融交易，再到全球，国家和个人导航系统。在大多数情况下，通过全球导航卫星系统（通常称为“卫星导航”或GPS）无线接收该定时。然而，这些信号并不具有保证的安全性，无论是通过其所有权（GPS系统由美国空军运行）还是由于无线信号容易受到黑客攻击或干扰。迫切需要一个英国时钟源来保护核心基础设施。此外，定时和频率源的准确性和稳定性的逐步变化将推动新技术的发展，包括更快的电信和更安全的通信协议，该项目汇集了一个由英国领先大学组成的团队，他们在原子物理学方面拥有数十年的专业知识，并与专门从事以下领域研究的行业领导者合作：纳米纤维和光学系统工程，为原子冷却提供世界领先的微型光学系统。这种创新的方法将产生一种超冷锶原子源，适用于提供参考原子标准的高度准确的时间。最终，这项技术可以用于完全隔离的时钟，能够在未来自动驾驶汽车和关键基础设施网络的核心提供超越GNSS的计时标准。

Precision timing is key to all aspects of modern infrastructure, from the national grid, to telecommunications, to financial trading, through to global, national, and individual navigation systems. In most cases this timing is received wirelessly through global navigation satellite systems, commonly known as "sat-nav" or GPS. However, these signals do not have guaranteed security, either through their ownership (the GPS system is run by the US Air Force) or due to the vulnerability of the wireless signal to hacking or jamming. There is an urgent need for a UK source of clocks to protect core infrastructure. Additionally, the development of a step-change in the accuracy and stability of timing and frequency sources will drive new technologies, including faster telecoms and ever more secure communication protocols, precision navigation for autonomous transport networks and earth observation techniques to monitor climate change.This project brings a team of leading UK universities with many decades expertise in atomic physics together with industry leaders specialising in nanofabrication and optical systems engineering to deliver a world leading miniature optical system for atom cooling. This innovative approach will generate a source of ultra-cold strontium atoms suitable to deliver highly accurate time referenced to atomic standards. Ultimately, this technology could be employed in a fully isolated clock that is capable of providing a GNSS-surpassing timing standard at the heart of future autonomous vehicles and critical infrastructure networks.