Physicists Will Build Second Atomic Clock

A new atomic clock, similar to the one just completed, is being devised by three University scientists. Construction of the new maser is scheduled to begin in November and will be finished in six or seven months, according to Norman F. Ramsey, professor of Physics.

Working with Professor Ramsey on the project are Daniel Kleppner, instructor and research fellow in Physics, and Harold M. Goldenberg 5G.

When the new maser is run alongside the other clock, scientists will be able to test the device's accuracy. The new masers promise to be more than 100,000 times more accurate than the best atomic clock now running.

The first of the new clocks, begun last March, has a unique box that stores high-energy-level hydrogen atoms long enough for them to give off 21 centimeter radiation. The oscillating wave it omits is o' such stability and purity of tone that the maser promises to become a new standard for time and frequency measurement.