Speaker
Description
The 8.4 eV isomeric state of Thorium-229 (229Th) is the only known nuclear excited state in the laser-accessible energy range and is therefore a promising candidate for a nuclear clock based on this nuclear resonance frequency. In recent years, several research groups, including ours, have reported successful laser excitation of this transition, further demonstrating the feasibility of this approach.
Toward direct laser excitation of the 229Th nuclear transition, we have been developing a vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) laser system. Using this VUV laser system, we performed nuclear laser spectroscopy of 229Th-doped CaF2 crystals. We resolved the crystal-field splitting of the nuclear resonance with a high signal-to-background ratio.
In this presentation, we report recent spectroscopic results and discuss current progress toward future laser spectroscopy of 229Th trapped ions.