31-Jan-2020

Scientists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) have carried out pioneering optical measurements of highly charged ions with unprecedented precision. To do this, they isolated a single Ar¹³⁺ ion from an extremely hot plasma ...

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04-Dec-2019

Scientists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) have implemented a novel pressure measurement method, quasi as a byproduct of the work on the "new" kelvin. In addition to being new, this procedure is a primary method, i.e. it only depends on natural constants. As an independent ...

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Researchers develop more sensitive quantum sensors

03-Jul-2019

For centuries, humans have been expanding their understanding of the world through more and more precise measurement of light and matter. Today, quantum sensors achieve extremely accurate results. An example of this is the development of atomic clocks, which are expected to neither gain nor lose ...

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On World Metrology Day what defines a kilogram, an ampere and all the other units will change fundamentally

15-May-2019

If you come across someone who can tell you by heart and without cheating what a kilogram is after 20 May 2019, beware! It is probably a particular kind of scientist, a metrologist, who is still overly enthusiastic about the fundamental change experienced by the International System of Units, the ...

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The comparison of two atomic clocks has confirmed their excellent accuracy as well as a fundamental hypothesis of the theory of relativity

15-Mar-2019

In his Special Theory of Relativity, Einstein formulated the hypothesis according to which the speed of light is always the same, no matter what the conditions are. It may, however, be possible that – according to theoretical models of quantum gravitation – this uniformity of space-time does not ...

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New high-accuracy reference solutions for the SI-traceable measurement

27-Mar-2018

Lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic do not belong in medicinal products. International requirements for the quality of medicines have therefore become more stringent and introduced new control requirements. Hence, it makes sense to use high-accuracy reference solutions with defined contents of ...

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DIN standard for the determination of the tip radius and the probing force of stylus instruments developed

07-Jun-2016

In microsystems metallic components are increasingly being replaced by those from low-cost polymers. For the thickness measurement of polymers, there is now the DIN standard 32567 available, which describes both, optical and tactile surface measuring methods for the precise measurement of the ...

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12-Feb-2016

Atomic clock experts from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) are the first research group in the world to have built an optical single-ion clock which attains an accuracy which had only been predicted theoretically so far. As early as 1981, Hans Dehmelt, who was to be awarded a Nobel ...

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10-Feb-2016

A German research group has demonstrated the first implementation of a non-destructive state detection technique for molecular ions. Piet Schmidt and his colleagues from the QUEST-Institute at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) observed changes in the rotational state of a trapped ...

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Measuring Thermal expansion at low temperatures for future space missions

25-Nov-2015

Space holds numerous fascinating objects which we can only investigate by observing their radiation - even beyond the visible range. For space telescopes such as the European Space Agency's (ESA) infrared observatory Herschel, whose mission is to observe radiation in the far-infrared, cooling the ...

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