Time and Frequency Division

NIST-on-a-Chip in ADI

NIST-F1 Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock

Yb Lattice Clock

News and Updates

Illustration shows two buildings labeled "NIST" and "JILA" facing each other with mountains in the background.

NIST Team Compares 3 Top Atomic Clocks With Record Accuracy Over Both Fiber and Air

March 24, 2021

In a significant advance toward the future redefinition of the international unit of time, the second, a research team led by the National Institute of

Bringing Atoms to a Standstill: NIST Miniaturizes Laser Cooling

January 21, 2021

It’s cool to be small. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have miniaturized the optical components required to cool atoms

Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure: NIST Releases Draft Cybersecurity Guidance, Develops GPS-Free Backup for Timing Systems

October 23, 2020

Taking another step toward strengthening the nation’s critical infrastructure, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has drafted guidelines

woman makes adjustments to optics on a laser bench

Spotlight: Alejandra Collopy's Exploration of the Quantum World

September 21, 2020

It’s the little things that make all the difference for NIST postdoctoral researcher Alejandra Collopy ... and by little, we mean quantum. She’s part of a team

Industry Impacts

Close up of the NIST chip-scale atomic clock

Navigation through Timekeeping

Accurate navigation requires precision timing synchronization to about 1 billionth of a second per day. New applications require timing mechanisms that can

Projects and Programs

Time Measurement and Analysis Service (TMAS)

The NIST Time Measurement and Analysis Service (TMAS) was designed to serve any organization that is required to maintain an accurate local time standard. The

Microfabricated Optically Pumped Magnetometers

We are developing microfabricated high-performance atomic magnetometers for magnetic anomaly detection, nuclear magnetic resonance and biomagnetics.

Calcium Thermal Beam Optical Clock

A simple, compact alternative to the highest performing optical standards, the Ca clock uses a thermal beam of neutral atoms with one or two lasers to achieve

Frequency Comb Spectroscopy

We use frequency combs based on ultrafast mode-locked lasers to perform precision spectroscopy in the near- and mid-infrared domains, for rapid, high

Awards

Distinguished PTTI Service Award - Michael A. Lombardi

Mr. Lombardi was recognized for system development and leadership in the successful delivery of the U.S. time and frequency standards

2020 Distinguished Associate Award - Jenny Wu

For the first demonstration of quantum gate teleportation with trapped ions, showcasing a crucial step toward large-scale quantum

2020 Distinguished Associate Award - David Wineland

For the first demonstration of quantum gate teleportation with trapped ions, showcasing a crucial step toward large-scale quantum

2020 - Gold Medal Award---Scott Glancy, Emanuel Knill, Andrew Wilson, Dietrich Leibfried

For the first demonstration of quantum gate teleportation with trapped ions, showcasing a crucial step toward large-scale quantum computation.

Patents

Optical Reference Cavity

NIST Inventors

Franklyn Quinlan, Scott Diddams and Andrew Ludlow

Patent Description We have demonstrated an easy-to-manufacture 25-mm-long ultra-stable optical reference cavity geared toward transportable photonic microwave generation systems and mobile optical atomic clock applications. The cavity can be rigidly held in a way that is first-order insensitive to