Scientists create the world's sharpest laser

Scientists have created a new laser technology which they claim to be the sharpest in the whole world.

Setting a new record for the sharpness of laser, scientists from the National Metrology Institute of Germany have build a laser with a line-width of only 10 millihertz or 0.01 hertz. The more the laser sharpness, the more accurate it is in any field. According to scientists, the newly build laser will surely be beneficial in maintaining our standard of time.

Researcher Thomas Legero explained, "The smaller the line-width of the laser, the more accurate the measurement of the atom's frequency in an optical clock. This new laser will enable us to decisively improve the quality of our clocks."

Working for approximately 10 years, this record was achieved using a Fabry-Pérot silicon resonator which controlled the light wavelength via two mirrors placed opposite to each other and fixed in a double core.

The study published in Physicial Review Letters stated that the controlling the line-width of the laser was dependant on the length of the gap between the mirrors, just the mirrors were to be kept as stable as possible, and this was possible through eliminating interference from pressure variations, vibrations from seismic waves and sounds, and temperature changes, reported Science Alert.

The last step in achieving their goal was to reduce the thermal motion of the atoms in the resonator. In order to accomplish this, the resonator was constructed from single-crystal silicon and was later cooled down to a temperature of -150° Celsius. Hence, giving rise to the world's sharpest laser.

According to stats, the light waves of the new laser oscillate for about 200 trillion times per second and are stable for almost 11 seconds before getting out of sync - time for light to travel to the Moon and back five times.

The new technology is already being used for enhancing the quality of optical atomic clocks and also to measure ultra-cold atoms with better accuracy.

For future usage, the lasers could also be probably made to be used for calculating electromagnetic radiation with more accuracy and scientists also plan to test the theory of relativity via these lasers. The team is however, optimistic of getting the linewidth down to possibly below 1 millihertz in the future, informed Science Daily.