TOPTICA Photonics is proud to announce that its latest innovation, TOPTICLOCK, has been awarded the 2026 SPIE Prism Award. The award in the Quantum Tech category was presented during a ceremony at Photonics West 2026 in San Francisco, recognizing outstanding achievements in photonics innovation.

 

 

TOPTICLOCK is the first fully integrated, commercially available optical quantum clock based on a laser-cooled, single trapped Yb⁺ ion. Housed in two robust 19” industrial rack units, it delivers a new benchmark in transportable frequency standards with relative frequency instability and accuracy at the 10⁻¹⁷ level. Designed for remote operation, it provides a stable optical frequency standard output at 871 nm, enabling seamless integration with optical frequency combs to realize rf or pulse per second outputs for timekeeping and advanced synchronization.

 

“The transition from scientific instruments to be operated by expert personnel in academic laboratories into an industrial product for real-world environments has long been a goal for optical quantum clocks,” said Dr. Wilhelm Kaenders, President and founder of TOPTICA. “With TOPTICLOCK, we are closing this gap – making the world's most precise commercial time and frequency reference. We have already deployed first units at customer sites for high-end applications in navigation, metrology, and fundamental science.”

 

“We thank all people at TOPTICA who have been contributing to master this challenging endeavor and are grateful for the of the ongoing support from German national metrology institute PTB. A special thanks goes to our first lead customer for his trust in our capabilities to build the first version of TOPTICLOCK and the German ministry of science, technology and space (formerly named ministry for education and research) and the collaboration partners for funding and working on a predecessor research project “opticlock”, in which a first demonstrator of a single Yb+ ion clock was successfully realized.” adds Dr. Jürgen Stuhler, Vice President of Quantum Technologies and former coordinator of opticlock.     

 

Unlike microwave-based cesium or optical rubidium clocks, TOPTICLOCK significantly outperforms hydrogen masers and other commercial frequency standards in both stability and accuracy. It was developed as a turnkey solution for users who demand cutting-edge performance without needing deep quantum technology expertise – combining push-button operation, auto-calibration, and user-definable sequences.

 

•    National and international time services (UTC) and contributions to TAI (Temps Atomique International)
•    Network synchronization and long-term holdover in GNSS-denied environments (Global Navigation Satellite System)
•    Satellite navigation and space-based infrastructure
•    Fundamental quantum metrology and highest precision physics

 

TOPTICLOCK marks TOPTICA’s first complete commercial quantum technology solution, building on the company’s 30 years of expertise in narrow linewidth laser systems and optical frequency control. 

 

By combining laser cooling and quantum-state control of a single ion with ultra-stable clock laser technology, TOPTICLOCK offers a commercially unprecedented level of stability and accuracy while still allowing for flexible usage and modifications. With an optical output at 871 nm and the option to integrate TOPTICA’s Difference Frequency Comb (DFC) for a phase-stable linkage into the microwave regime, TOPTICLOCK delivers complete optical and low-phase-noise RF clock signals.