2015-12-08 00:10:01 Source: Reference News Network
Core tip: This material will be used to manufacture small portable atomic clocks, enabling the GPS navigation system of autonomous vehicles to be accurate to 1 millimeter. The atomic clock is currently the most accurate timing system in the world.
On December 8th, foreign media reported that Oxford University's laboratory is building the world's most expensive material, with a price of 100 million pounds (approximately 965 million yuan) per gram.
According to the Daily Telegraph website on December 5th, a carbon material design company established by Oxford University last year is producing "embedded fullerenes". Embedded fullerene "is a cage structure composed of carbon atoms, which contains nitrogen atoms inside.
The report states that this material will be used to manufacture small portable atomic clocks, enabling the GPS navigation system of autonomous vehicles to be accurate to 1 millimeter. The atomic clock is currently the most accurate timing system in the world.
According to the report, Dr. Kiriakos Porfilakis, a 45 year old carbon material design company founder and nanomaterial scientist, has been dedicated to producing this material since 2001.
He said, "Imagine a miniature atomic clock that can be carried around in a smartphone. This is the next mobile phone revolution
Will this end the era where smartphones often need to be charged?
The report states that carbon atoms exist in various forms, including diamonds and graphene. This fullerene is composed of 60 carbon atoms and is nicknamed the "Baki sphere" due to its shape.
The carbon material design company recently sold the first batch of "embedded fullerene" materials for £ 22000, with a total weight of 200 micrograms. The Oxford Technology Early Investment Fund, which invested in this startup, has invested £ 75000, and last year the University of Oxford allocated £ 75000 to a carbon material design company.
Lucius Carey, the head of Oxford Tech Fund, which holds a minority stake in the company, said, "Atomic clocks nowadays are as big as a room. This embedded fullerene can make atomic clocks so small that they can be mounted on chips and inserted into mobile phones
He also said, "This technology will have a wide range of applications. The most obvious one is to control autonomous vehicles. If two cars are driving towards each other on a country road, it is not enough to accurately locate them within 2 meters, but accurate to 1 millimeter is enough
According to reports, the current accuracy of GPS can only reach within a few meters, which is a major challenge for the launch of autonomous vehicles.
Kari said, "One day every mobile phone will contain such materials