Are Atomic Clocks Affected by Ambient Temperature?

[Zman]

Are atomic clocks such as the NIST-F1 Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock

http://tf.nist.gov/cesium/fountain.htm"

sensitive to the ambient temperature

Or do they keep very accurate time regardless of the ambient temperature?

 

[mgb_phys]

They aren't affected by the outside temperature, but their ultimate precision does depend on temperature. The atoms used are heated to form a gas and because of the temperature the lines of atomic transitions are slightly broadened - some newer designs use atoms held (almost) motionless at low temperatures in laser traps to improve the accuracy.