| TOPICAL REVIEW — Advances in thorium nuclear optical clocks |
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Progresses on Th-doped materials for solid-state nuclear clock |
| Cheng-Chun Zhao(赵呈春)1,2, Lin Li(李琳)1,2, Shan-Ming Li(李善明)1,2, Qiao-Rui Gong(龚巧瑞)1,2, Pei-Xiong Zhang(张沛雄)1,3,†, Yin Hang(杭寅)1,2,‡, Long-Sheng Ma(马龙生)4, and Shi-Ning Zhu(祝世宁)5 |
1 Research Center of Laser Crystal, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China;
2 Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
3 Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China;
4 State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China;
5 National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China |
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Abstract The isomeric transition of thorium-229 (229Th), as the only known laser-accessible nuclear transition, offers the possibility for the development of a new generation of optical clocks. Solid-state nuclear optical clock based on 229Th-doped crystals or thin films has attracted much attention due to its potential advantages in high stability, miniaturization, and robustness. This paper reviews the research progress of solid-state nuclear optical clock materials, analyzes the preparation, defects, and properties of the candidate solid material systems for 229Th, explores the influence of the local crystal environment on the nuclear transition, focuses on introducing the latest research results of crystal materials such as Th-doped CaF2 and LiSrAlF6, and looks forward to the future development direction of this field. It could provide a reference for the material selection and optimization of solid-state nuclear optical clocks.
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Received: 31 August 2025
Revised: 14 November 2025
Accepted manuscript online: 19 November 2025
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PACS:
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06.30.Ft
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(Time and frequency)
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91.60.Ed
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(Crystal structure and defects, microstructure)
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91.60.Mk
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(Optical properties)
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| Fund: This work was supported by Zhangjiang Laboratory (Grant No. ZJSP21A001D), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB0920000), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12341402 and 12341403). |
Corresponding Authors:
Pei-Xiong Zhang, Yin Hang
E-mail: pxzhang@jnu.edu.cn;yhang@siom.ac.cn
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Cite this article:
Cheng-Chun Zhao(赵呈春), Lin Li(李琳), Shan-Ming Li(李善明), Qiao-Rui Gong(龚巧瑞), Pei-Xiong Zhang(张沛雄), Yin Hang(杭寅), Long-Sheng Ma(马龙生), and Shi-Ning Zhu(祝世宁) Progresses on Th-doped materials for solid-state nuclear clock 2026 Chin. Phys. B 35 020602
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