Posted on by Paul M. Sutter

There’s a new record for the shortest time measurement: how long it takes light to cross a hydrogen molecule

HD+ molecular ions (yellow and red pairs of dots: proton and deuteron) suspended in an ultra-high vacuum between atomic ions (blue dots). Credit: HHU / Alighanbari, Hansen, Schiller
HD+ molecular ions (yellow and red pairs of dots: proton and deuteron) suspended in an ultra-high vacuum between atomic ions (blue dots). Credit: HHU / Alighanbari, Hansen, Schiller

To measure small differences in time, you need a really tiny clock, and researchers in Germany have discovered the smallest known clock: a single hydrogen molecule. Using the travel of light across the length of that molecule, those scientists have measured the smallest interval of time ever: 247 zeptoseconds. Don’t know what a “zepto” is? Read on…

Continue reading “There’s a new record for the shortest time measurement: how long it takes light to cross a hydrogen molecule”