Nuclear effect The deformed shape of the ytterbium-173 nucleus (right) makes it possible to excite the clock transition with a relatively low-power laser. The same transition is forbidden (left) if ...

For decades, atomic clocks have been the pinnacle of precision timekeeping, enabling GPS navigation, cutting-edge physics research, and tests of fundamental theories. But researchers are now pushing ...

Scientists have created the first-ever atomic movies showing how atoms rearrange locally within a quantum material as it transitions from an insulator to a metal. With the help of these movies, the ...

For experiments that require ultra-precise measurements and control over atoms—think two-photon atomic clocks, cold-atom interferometer sensors and quantum gates—lasers are the technology of choice, ...

A thorium-doped calcium fluoride crystal's temperature is continually monitored while a VUV frequency comb is used to directly resolve individual quantum states of the nuclear transition. For decades, ...