Ben Allen

Ben Allen is a Scientist currently working with the Optical Frequency Metrology group within the Time & Frequency department at NPL. He joined NPL in November 2020 having completed an MSci undergraduate degree at Imperial College London, where he took a keen interest in Laser, Quantum and Atomic Physics. His Master’s project included an 8-month placement within the Femtosecond Optics group at Imperial, where he designed, constructed and tested a femtosecond fibre frequency comb.  

Ben’s time at NPL is currently divided between working on the Strontium Lattice Optical Clock project, the Quantum Test and Evaluation programme and the Quantum Hubs initiative in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, all with the aim of achieving new and improved time & frequency standards. He is looking forward to the completion of NPL’s new Advanced Quantum Metrology Laboratory (AQML), where he hopes to further his work in the aforementioned fields.

Areas of Interest

• Optical clocks and their role in future time & frequency standards and redefining the SI second
• Using atomic clocks to push and probe the limits of our understanding of fundamental physical phenomena
• Developing transportable, highly accurate atomic clocks for applications including frequency comparisons and mapping the Earth’s gravitational field for monitoring of global sea level variations induced by climate change