Created by Japanese manufacturer Shimadzu Corp, the Aether Clock OC 020 is a strontium optical lattice clock advertised as the most accurate clock in the world and sold for over $3 million.
The world’s most accurate clock looks less like you’d imagine and more like a small refrigerator. Its rectangular case is around three feet tall and has a volume of 250 liters. Frankly, it doesn’t look like much, but this contraption is so precise that it would take about 10 billion years for it to deviate by a single second, according to Kyoto-based manufacturer Shimadzu Corp. The Aether Clock OC 020 is reportedly 100 times more accurate than cesium atomic clocks, which set the standard for the current definition of a second. Although optical lattice clocks have been around for a while, the Aether Clock OC 020 is the world’s first commercially available model.
Photo: Shimadzu Corp
“Conventional optical lattice clocks required frequent and complicated adjustment work, but this product significantly reduces the burden on workers,” Shimadzu Corp wrote in a press release. “The compact size makes it easy to relocate, and it can be applied to gravitational potential measurements using the general theory of relativity in various fields. For example, optical lattice clocks have the potential to become a part of the future social infrastructure, such as monitoring plate movements and vertical movements of the crust due to volcanic activity with an accuracy of a few centimeters.”
Shimadzu Corp. started taking orders for the Aether Clock OC 020 earlier this month and has already sold one for $3.3 million. The company hopes to sell ten units in the next three years, with research institutions being the primary clients.
“Laser-cooled atoms are trapped in an optical lattice, and the clock transitions are spectroscopically analyzed with high precision in a cryogenically cooled thermostatic chamber,” Shimadzu Corp wrote about the principle behind its innovative clock. It is equipped with a physics package including a vacuum chamber for clock spectroscopy, an optical resonator, and a laser/control system.”
