Dhaka:Chinese scientists have developed a nuclear clock that achieves stable operation, marking a shift in ultra-precise time measurement from electron transitions in atoms to transitions within atomic nuclei.
According to Oman News Agency, This new technology offers potential benefits in miniaturization and engineering, meeting high-precision time and frequency measurement needs for applications such as satellite navigation and deep space exploration.
The Xinhua News Agency highlighted that the nuclear clock utilizes lasers to stimulate precise energy level transitions within the nucleus of the thorium-229 atom, a radioactive isotope, using these nuclear transitions as a time reference.
The clock was constructed domestically, employing a continuous-wave vacuum ultraviolet laser with a wavelength of 148 nanometres and a calcium fluoride crystal doped with thorium-229.
Hui Zhai, Chair of the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University, stated that this clock is poised to set a new standard for the next generation of time and frequency measurement technologies, representing a significant breakthrough in precision quantum measurement.