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Welcome

The Time and Frequency Division, part of the NIST Physics Laboratory, maintains the standard for frequency and time interval for the United States, provides official time to the United States, and carries out a broad program of research and service activities in time and frequency metrology.



photo of NIST physicist Till Rosenband


NIST's Second "Quantum Logic Clock" is World's Most Precise Clock

NIST scientists have built a second "quantum logic clock," using quantum information processing techniques on a single ion of aluminum to make a clock that would not gain or lose more than one second in about 3.7 billion years.  

For more information, please see http://www.nist.gov/physlab/div847/logicclock_020410.cfm.

News
Yikes! NIST Sensor Measures Yoctonewton Forces Fast Yikes! NIST Sensor Measures Yoctonewton Forces Fast

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used a small crystal of ions (electrically charged atoms) to detect forces at the scale of yoctonewtons. Measurements of …

Glasperlenspiel: NIST Scientists Propose New Test for Gravity Glasperlenspiel: NIST Scientists Propose New Test for Gravity

A new experiment proposed* by physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may allow researchers to test the effects of gravity with unprecedented precision at very short …

Novel Ion Trap with Optical Fiber Could Link Atoms and Light in Quantum Networks Novel Ion Trap with Optical Fiber Could Link Atoms and Light in Quantum Networks

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated an ion trap with a built-in optical fiber that collects light emitted by single ions (electrically charged …