In 1949 Ramsey perfected a method to study the structure of atoms by
sending them through two separate oscillating electromagnetic fields.
The rapid energy-level transitions thereby induced in a beam of atoms
produced an interference pattern that could provide important data about
the structure and behaviour of atoms. When synchronized with a microwave
oscillator, the atoms' oscillations could also be used to measure the
passage of time with extreme accuracy, thus providing the basis for
the modern cesium atomic clock, which sets present time standards. In
the 1950s Ramsey helped develop the hydrogen maser, a microwave-emitting
relative of the laser.
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