Thorium film could replace crystals in atomic clocks of the near future
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 20, 2024
This summer, UCLA physicists succeeded in getting the nucleus of a thorium-229 atom embedded in a transparent crystal to absorb and emit photons like the electrons in an atom do, ending decades of speculation about whether such a feat was possible. Raising the energy state of an atom's nucleus using a laser, or exciting it, would permit the development of the m
This summer, UCLA physicists succeeded in getting the nucleus of a thorium-229 atom embedded in a transparent crystal to absorb and emit photons like the electrons in an atom do, ending decades of speculation about whether such a feat was possible. Raising the energy state of an atom's nucleus using a laser, or exciting it, would permit the development of the m