- China’s strontium optical clock now directly participates in international atomic time calculation
- Optical clocks operate at higher frequencies than cesium, allowing for finer measurement resolution.
- Accuracy claims reach one second in billions or tens of billions of years
China has received formal international recognition for an ultra-precise optical lattice watch after its calibration data was accepted into the global timekeeping system.
The approval allows the country’s NIM-Sr1 strontium atomic optical network clock to participate directly in the calculation of International Atomic Time, a function previously dominated by a few nations using cesium-based standards.
This development sees China go from indirectly contributing data to becoming part of the central mechanism that defines global time.
Entry into international time calibration
The clock, developed by the National Metrology Institute, passed review by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, which oversees the global time standard.
Its data has now been incorporated into the system used to calculate international standard time, meaning that the clock’s measurements are no longer experimental references but are actively used alongside other leading atomic clocks around the world.
Such participation reflects a level of stability and repeatability that must be demonstrated consistently over long periods.
Traditional cesium atomic clocks define the current international second and can maintain an accuracy of one second for hundreds of millions of years.
Optical clocks are important because they operate at much higher frequencies, allowing for much higher measurement precision than cesium clocks, which in practical terms allows for accuracy on the scale of one second for billions or even tens of billions of years, at least under controlled conditions.
This precision exceeds what is required for daily timekeeping, but becomes critical for advanced scientific and technical systems.
For example, ultra-precise clocks are the backbone of satellite navigation, telecommunications synchronization, high-frequency commercial systems, and deep space exploration.
Small timing errors can accumulate into large position or coordination errors in global networks, and as systems become more interconnected and faster, tolerance for timing deviation continues to reduce.
Optical clocks are widely expected to replace cesium clocks as the basis for redefining the second in the future.
Participating in international calibration allows a country to influence how that transition unfolds, rather than adapting to standards set elsewhere.
It also provides redundancy in the overall system, which relies on contributions from multiple independent laboratories to maintain stability.
Beyond civilian applications, accurate national timekeeping supports secure communications and independent operation during periods when international coordination may be disrupted.
Additionally, this clock reduces reliance on a single clock and improves resiliency in timing operations.
Through TIHome (originally in Chinese)
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