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Mission

The mission of the Time and Frequency Division is to support U.S. industry and science through provision of measurement services and research in time and frequency and related technology. To fulfill this mission the Division engages in:

• development and operation of standards of time and frequency and coordination of them with other world standards;

• development of optical frequency standards supporting wavelength and length metrology;

• provision of time and frequency services to the United States; and

• basic and applied research in support of future standards, dissemination services, and measurement methods.

The work supporting length metrology derives from the definition of the meter on the realization of the second. This work contributes to a larger program in the Precision Engineering Division (MEL) which has primary responsibility for length and its dissemination.

Organization

The Division is organized into six technical Groups: Time & Frequency Services, Network Synchronization, Atomic Standards, Ion Storage, Phase Noise Measurements, and Optical Frequency Measurements. The Groups are necessarily small, and the Group Leaders are thus able to function primarily as technical leaders within their areas. The common theme of time-and-frequency technology produces a strong connection between Groups and thus requires strong interactions among the them.