Vienna, Austria--The Thorium project, a research group seeking to create a solid-state atomic clock (frequency standard) based on thorium (Th)-doped optical crystals, has contracted McPherson, Inc. (Chelmsford, MA) to provide a spectral test and measurement system working in the vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) wavelength region. McPherson is a manufacturer of vacuum-compatible spectroscopic instruments.
The radioisotope 229Th is of particular interest to the researchers due to its low-energy nuclear excited state. The research aims to identify the "optical nuclear transition" and make it usable for fundamental investigations and applications.
Experimental work will occur at deep VUV wavelengths. The McPherson system will help characterize and document spectral absorbance, emission, and lifetime characteristics of Th-doped crystals and related samples in the demanding VUV regime. The instrumentation includes all-reflective beam-delivery optics for work in the 115 to 380 nm wavelength region and a vacuum spectrometer with a sensitive direct-detection CCD array and specialized solar-blind high-gain detector for direct detection of the expected very faint luminescence.
The work will take place at the Institute of Atomic and Subatomic Physics, Vienna University of Technology.
Th-doped crystals are also being investigated by a team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Hudson Lab.
