feasibility

Physics

Findings from the experimental setup indicate the feasibility of a small, portable nuclear clock.

(Left) VUV signal versus exposure time immediately after X-ray beam irradiation of a 229Th-doped CaF2 crystal. The VUV signal as a function of exposure time reaches a saturation value about 10 times faster than the expected decay half-life. (Right) Observed time profile of an isomeric decay signal with a half-life of about 450 seconds. This suggests that the isomeric state…