What atomic clock is made of

A clock paced by transitions in caesium atoms.

• Oscillator — has part. A quartz oscillator is tuned to the atoms.
• Cesium oven — has part. A source of the atomic beam.
• Microwave cavity — has part. It excites the 9.19 GHz transition.
• Atom detector — has part. It records the transitions.
• Spectral lines — uses. The second is defined by the frequency of an atomic transition.
• Caesium — is made of. Essen’s clock (1955) used a caesium atomic beam.

Atomic clock

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