Molecular clocks to reshape future of smartphone navigation systems

Our smartphones clocks and navigations systems may get more accurate in the near future. That is thanks to latest research executed by experts at MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Terahertz Integrated Electronics Group.

The research included testing molecules for churning out time and thereby establishing navigations systems. The conventional clocks, which we currently have in our smartphones, utilise atoms to estimate time which are said to be very less accurate as compared to those which involve molecules.

Looking at how the clocks today work, our systems basically consist of atoms which are made to resonate by striking some frequency on them. These resonances strike every second on the clock which is used by the GPS systems. With the help of the data from the clock, the GPS satellite creates 3D positioning data which helps in indicating the position of the GPS receiver.

The molecular system operates in a similar way. When exposed to ultrahigh frequency, the molecules start zooming but their rotation is much more stable and consistent which helps in giving out better and reliable output in terms of seconds.

These molecular clocks represented minimal errors during the experiment, 1 microsecond of flaw per hour, to be precise. As compared to atomic clocks working on crystal oscillation mechanism, these new systems are claimed to be 10,000 times more accurate.

Since these systems require light and less power-consuming components while being feasible to be integrated on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits, they make for ideal systems for our smartphone watches.

However, researchers also faced some challenges while implementing the system and one of them is generating the signal of the required frequency. The chip needed to propel 200 Gigahertz of a signal which is much more as compared to how much our smartphones produce today. But, the team managed to transform the low-frequency signals into high-frequency electromagnetic signals with the help of metal structures and other components.

Before the system goes out into the market and becomes usable, some more advancement and developments are needed which are underway.

(Source)