Hanoi:Chinese scientists have developed a nuclear clock that has achieved stable operation, marking a significant shift in ultra-precise time measurement from electron transitions within atoms to transitions within atomic nuclei.
According to Oman News Agency, these solid-state nuclear clocks offer potential advantages in miniaturization and engineering design. They are expected to fulfill the requirements for high-precision time and frequency measurement in various applications, including satellite navigation and deep space exploration.
The Xinhua News Agency reported that the new nuclear clock utilizes lasers to stimulate precise transitions in energy levels within the nucleus of the thorium-229 atom, a special radioactive isotope. This process adopts the frequency of these nuclear transitions as a time reference.
The researchers constructed the clock domestically, employing a continuous-wave vacuum ultraviolet laser with a wavelength of 148 nanometers and a calcium fluoride crystal doped with thorium-229.
Hui Zhai, Chair of the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University and a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, stated that the new clock is expected to establish a new standard for the next generation of time and frequency measurement technologies and represents a significant breakthrough in precision quantum measurement.
