Scientists at NIST and JILA have made a major breakthrough in developing a nuclear clock, a new type of timekeeping device that could revolutionize time measurement and fundamental physics. The team demonstrated key elements of a nuclear clock using thorium-229 nuclei embedded in a solid crystal, measuring the energy needed for nuclear transitions with unprecedented precision.
A nuclear clock would use energy jumps within an atom’s nucleus, rather than electron transitions in atomic clocks. This could lead to clocks with precision one million times higher than current atomic clocks, enabling more accurate navigation systems, faster internet, and secure communications. The research also revealed new details about the thorium nucleus’s shape.
The team’s work, published in Nature, establishes a direct frequency link between a nuclear transition and an atomic clock, a crucial step toward creating a portable and stable nuclear clock. While not yet functional, this research brings scientists closer to wristwatch-level precision timekeeping devices.
Keywords: thorium-229 nucleus, nuclear clock, ultraviolet light, atomic clock, frequency comb
