BEIJING, 12th October, 2026 (WAM) -- Chinese scientists have developed a nuclear clock and achieved stable operation, shifting ultra-precise time measurement from electron transitions inside atoms to transitions within atomic nuclei.
Solid-state nuclear clocks have potential advantages in miniaturisation and engineering, and are expected to meet the high-precision time and frequency requirements in such scenarios as satellite navigation and deep-space exploration.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the nuclear clock uses lasers to drive precise energy-level transitions within the atomic nucleus of thorium-229, a special radioactive isotope, and uses the frequency of these nuclear transitions as its time reference. Researchers built the device with a self-developed 148-nanometre continuous-wave vacuum ultraviolet laser and a thorium-229-doped calcium fluoride crystal.
The new clock is expected to set a next-generation time and frequency standard, and marks an important breakthrough in the field of quantum precision measurement, said Zhai Hui, Head of the Department of Physics at Tsinghua University.