Earlier versions that utilized the optical lattice method organized atoms in just one dimension -- limiting how many atoms could be used. But while more atoms can boost clock stability, they can also lower accuracy since they're more likely to collide. Atomic clocks work by using light, like from lasers, to push an atom's electrons into higher-energy positions. When those atoms move back to their lower positions, they release light and atomic clocks can measure time by those energy position movements. Measurements are accurate when those atoms keep to themselves, but keeping a lot of atoms separate from each other is increasingly difficult the more atoms you have.

However, the researchers at NIST developed a way to organize atoms in a 3D structure rather than a 1D one, increasing the number of atoms -- and thus, the clock's stability -- while still maintaining accuracy. The result is the most precise atomic clock every built. And this doesn't just advance time-keeping capabilities. As Gizmodo reports, this sort of clock could be used to detect dark matter or gravitational waves.

"Developing a clock like this represents the most sensitive and inquisitive instruments mankind has built," Jun Ye, an author of the study, told Gizmodo.