Tsinghua University and multiple domestic research teams say they have built the world's first "nuclear optical clock", shifting quantum precision measurement from electronic to nuclear transitions. The result, published in Nature, positions the device as a potential next-generation time-frequency standard after atomic microwave and optical clocks and could underpin advances in high-performance timing, deep-space detection and fundamental physics research.

2026-10-07

Tsinghua University and multiple domestic research teams say they have built the world's first "nuclear optical clock", shifting quantum precision measurement from electronic to nuclear transitions. The result, published in Nature, positions the device as a potential next-generation time-frequency standard after atomic microwave and optical clocks and could underpin advances in high-performance timing, deep-space detection and fundamental physics research.