Chapter 65

In the 1950s, a great man let out a shout: 'Atomic bomb, we must develop it even if it takes ten thousand years!'

Thus, in 1958, Ha Gong Da established the Department of Engineering Physics, which set up three majors: nuclear physics, electrical physics, and reactors—this was aimed at building nuclear bombs!

The Soviet experts left? No problem, we Ha Gong Da will help the nation develop it together!

Ha Gong Da not only supplied a large number of talents to the Second Ministry of Machine Building and the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, but also undertook many scientific research tasks!

At the experimental base in Lop Nur, the 'Base Heroes and Models Register' listed seven graduates from Ha Gong Da!

Later, Ha Gong Da's campus directly displayed a missile, the Dongfeng-26—note, this is not a model!

Now, to solve the atomic clock problem, one must go to the Department of Engineering Physics!

Zhou Ding stood up: 'Alright, I'll take you there, unfortunately Director Ma is abroad; otherwise, having him step in would be most suitable!'

"Which Director Ma?"

"Ma Zuoguang, one of Ha Gong Da's Eight Hundred Warriors."

Alright, another big shot.

In 1950, Ma Lao graduated from the Physics Department of Shandong University; he could have gone to the Capital to work, but he responded to the nation's call and supported Ha Gong Da!

Back then, Ha Gong Da was handed over from the old Soviets to the East, yet faced a severe shortage of teachers; thus, teachers and students from all over the country—over eight hundred of them—came to Ha Gong Da. This group, with an average age of only 27.5 years, upheld Ha Gong Da! They are Ha Gong Da's most famous Eight Hundred Warriors in history.

In just over ten years, they established 24 new majors, creating a large batch of new disciplines for the nation; the teaching system in mechanical and electrical, electrical, civil, engineering, etc., was fully formed, solving the urgent need for the nation's industrial construction.

Ha Gong Da's nuclear physics major was founded by Ma Lao himself; however, in 1970, Ma Lao turned to a new direction, leading the team to establish Ha Gong Da's optoelectronics technology major—simply put, the laser major. Later, our Eastern laser cannon could not exist without Ma Lao's contribution!

In 1979, Ma Lao went abroad to conduct a two-year visiting professorship.

Now, although Ma Lao is gone, the Department of Engineering Physics still abounds with talent!

Nuclear Physics Teaching and Research Section.

"Regarding atomic clocks, domestically there are mainly two units working on this." Teaching and Research Section Director Cui Hao heard Qin Miao et al.'s purpose and immediately began to introduce.

"The Modu Optics and Machinery Institute has already successfully developed the first practical cesium atomic clock, which is in trial operation at the Shaanxi Astronomical Observatory; however, it is an iron cabinet weighing 800 kilograms, with a daily error not exceeding one millisecond."

"The Wuhan Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, mainly researches hydrogen atomic clocks; I saw one a few years ago on a business trip—a cabinet taller than a person, even larger in volume than Modu's."

Yang Chan's face looked grim; he had gone to great trouble to gather these materials, yet it was useless—why didn't he think to ask Ha Gong Da's teachers back then?

Qin Miao is still smart!

But… how to solve the problem?

"That is to say, domestically there is currently no unit researching rubidium atomic clocks." Qin Miao said: "Perfect, Ha Gong Da can launch research in this area!"

Cui Hao's expression was complex; this Qin Miao really knows a lot!

Currently, the world's atomic clocks are mainly three types: hydrogen, cesium, and rubidium atomic clocks; among them, the rubidium atomic clock has the smallest volume, lightest weight, lowest power consumption, highest reliability and lifespan, making it most suitable for space-borne atomic clocks.

But developing it is also the most difficult!

"The core component of the rubidium atomic clock is the microwave cavity; its performance directly determines the strength of the atomic clock signal and whether it can withstand the outer space environment. Other major spacefaring nations have spent countless manpower, material resources, and funds to develop it. Starting from zero, we would need various attempts; merely finding materials could take over a decade."

Our nuclear physics major mainly studies how to make atomic bombs, but we have never researched atomic clocks! Starting from zero, where is there anything that easy!

The other two units both have superior funding, and even have Lao Qian's support; are we just supposed to rely on ourselves?

Qin Miao's feelings were complex; the more he exposed himself, the more it indicated his abnormality, and later he might not be able to explain how he knows so much—always using the the factory data room as an excuse won't work either!

But… the BeiDou navigation system is of great significance; completing it one day earlier means escaping the fate of being constrained by the Americans one day earlier; moreover, with satellite navigation, we can continue developing a series of industries—navigation for automobiles and aircraft, precision-guided bombs, mid-course correction for various missiles…

Never mind how to explain it later; first, speak out the correct path!

Qin Miao is not a nuclear physics major and does not know the specific details of atomic clocks, but taking out those research results that have been made public in later generations would already save Ha Gong Da's teachers many years of detours; indeed, we could even leapfrog, going from following directly to leading.

"Director Cui, I actually have some immature ideas; could the overall structure of this microwave cavity be made of platinum-iridium alloy, with a slot opened on one side to form a slotted-tube microwave cavity…"

Qin Miao said while walking to the blackboard, picked up chalk and began to draw.

This scene is very familiar to Zhou Ding and Yang Chan; when Qin Miao first arrived at Ha Gong Da, he gave lessons to several others in the dormitory in this way—even Zhou Ding felt inferior.

Now, although Zhou Ding and Yang Chan don't understand what Qin Miao is saying, deep down Zhou Ding feels that Qin Miao is correct.

In the Nuclear Physics Major Teaching and Research Section, everyone widened their eyes and listened attentively.

"As for signal acquisition, could we adopt the magnetic state–laser pumping composite technique? Ha Gong Da also has laser research; we could collaborate with them, and I think this would be more precise than international products…"

"Once in space, after a few months of operation, frequency drift may occur; this defect can be addressed by introducing a quartz crystal oscillator as an auxiliary reference, building a dual closed-loop control system…"

The teachers of the Department of Engineering Physics grew more astonished the more they listened; although there is no experimental verification yet, based on intuition they feel this plan is very likely to succeed! Then they would produce a rubidium atomic clock the size of a lunchbox, with its weight reducible to several tens of kilograms…

"Professors, these are just my random thoughts; they may not be correct, and I still hope you will criticize and correct them."

The big guys don't understand either; how could they give you advice? Just follow your plan!

Cui Hao spoke: "Let's first try this plan; the funding, at least, needs to start with one million…"

Again, it's about money!