FACT – Future Atomic Clock Technology (FP7)
FACT is a project coordinated by the University of Birmingham based on a Consortium of participants. The project is aimed to the preparation of a rare class of leaders in fundamental science, technology and industry.
Kayser Italia, as Industry partner of the Consortium, will be the hosting institution for a candidate of Chinese nationality that will undertake experimental research at Kayser Italia premises under a DPhil (PhD) postgraduate studentship at the University of Florence (UNIFI).
The FACT project focuses on a substantial increase in the technological readiness level of the emerging optical clocks and frequency standards. To achieve this aim, a range of robust technologies will be developed, covering all aspects of an optical clock instrument.
FACT has the following central science and technology objectives (SO):
- SO1: To overcome the technology bottleneck in bringing cold atom systems to market applications and demonstrate a mobile optical frequency standard.
- SO2: To foster technology making the superior performance of optical clocks available to end users and applications.
- SO3: To demonstrate feasibility with a commercial concept for an optical clock system.
The activities under Kayser Italia responsibility will be dedicated to investigate the technical boundary conditions posed by transferring the technology to space. This in particular will include a detailed assessments of the electronics for the future space applications of optical clocks with the related power and thermal management, the spatial and weight constraints and robust geometries.
FACT is funded by the Marie Curie Initial Training Networks (ITN) program, Call: FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN.