[Financial News] The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has successfully developed a length measurement system with precision levels close to the limits allowed by quantum physics. With world-class precision and the ability to operate in outdoor environments, it is expected to become the ‘standard’ for next-generation length measurement.
According to the institute on the 4th, the most accurate length measurement equipment currently is the ‘length measurement standard’, which serves as the benchmark for 1 meter (m). Length measurement standards operated by KRISS and similar institutions worldwide use short-wavelength laser interferometers to measure lengths. An interferometer is a device that precisely measures the distance or displacement of a target by analyzing the interference pattern generated when two light paths meet, reflecting the relative change between them. Short-wavelength lasers, with a wavelength distribution as fine as a tightly marked ruler, enable precise measurements at the scale of 1 to 10 nanometers (nm, one-billionth of a meter).
However, the length measurement standard is limited in terms of the distance it can measure at one time due to the narrow spectrum of short-wavelength lasers.
In contrast, absolute length measurement systems can measure long distances at once, albeit with less precision. They typically measure the time it takes for light (pulses) to travel to a target and return to calculate the length.
The KRISS Length and Shape Measurement Group has succeeded in increasing the precision of an absolute length measurement system to the level of a length measurement standard by using an ‘Optical Frequency Comb’ interferometer. Unlike traditional light sources in interferometers, the Optical Frequency Comb has a wide wavelength range and an arrangement that is evenly spaced, allowing for precise measurement of long distances in a single go.
The team’s ‘optical frequency comb spectroscopy-based absolute length measurement system’ combines the precision of the length measurement standard with the convenience of an absolute length measurement system. With a precision of 0.34 nanometers, it is one of the most advanced tools available and approaches the limits allowed by quantum physics. Its measurement speed is 25 microseconds (µs, one-millionth of a second), making it fast and convenient enough to be used outdoors, thus expected to significantly enhance precision in advanced industrial fields within Korea.
The research team plans to assess the measurement uncertainty of the newly developed system and continue performance improvements in order to have it registered as a next-generation length measurement standard.
This research was supported by KRISS’s basic projects and was published in the globally renowned journal in the field of optics, Laser & Photonics Review (IF: 10.0) in June.