• Accepted Paper

Solid-state nuclear clock based on VUV absorption spectroscopy of 229Th

Pengfei Wang, Xu-Fei Yin, Hanlin Wang, Jinming Liu, Qichen Qin, Zhouzhi Tan, Chengrun Leng, Mingxuan Zhang, Zixuan Li, Wenxin Bu, Xuan Fan, Yihang Liu, Kjeld Beeks, Luca Toscani De Col, Benedikt Gerstenecker, Sebastian Lahs, Meng Wang, Tung-Hsun Chung, Yong-Heng Huo, Yin Hang, Hanning Dai, Thorsten Schumm, Zhiqiang Zhang, Jian-Wei Pan, and Yu-Ao Chen

Phys. Rev. Lett. - Accepted 26 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/kpbs-7d6l

Abstract

We demonstrate sustained operation of a solid-state thorium-229 nuclear clock using continuouswave absorption at 148.4 nm. In a 229Th:CaF2 crystal, we resolve four quadrupole components of the D center and a broader O-center resonance. Feedback on the strongest narrow component is updated approximately every 10 s and remains active throughout a 30-h record. A hydrogenmaser-referenced frequency comb measures the output. Above the feedback interval, the fractional frequency instability of the clock output follows approximately 1.29×10−11(τ/s)−1/2 and reaches 1.24×10−13 at 104 s. A separate 6.6-h run demonstrates feedback on a second quadrupole component. Absorption-derived centers and clock outputs agree within their evaluated uncertainties, while temperature-adjusted comparisons with other segments of the same parent crystal indicate transition-dependent offsets.

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