Revolutionary Nuclear Clocks: A New Era of Precision Timekeeping Dawns

February 10, 2026 | Science & Technology

In a landmark breakthrough that could redefine the very fabric of timekeeping, physicists have unveiled a new method that brings ultra-precise nuclear clocks significantly closer to reality. This innovation, led by researchers at UCLA and detailed in a recent study published in Nature, promises clocks so accurate they could revolutionize navigation, secure communications, and even our understanding of the fundamental laws of physics.

Unlike current state-of-the-art atomic clocks, which rely on the vibrations of electrons orbiting an atom, nuclear clocks are based on the vibrations of an atom's nucleus. This subtle difference is expected to make nuclear clocks approximately ten times more accurate than the best current atomic clocks, with a potential inaccuracy of less than one part in 10¹⁹ (Source: Wikipedia: Nuclear Clock, Nature: Atomic clocks compared).

The key to this advancement lies in the element thorium-229, an incredibly rare isotope. Until now, the challenge has been the scarcity of this material, with only about 40 grams estimated to exist worldwide, primarily sourced from weapons-grade uranium. Previous methods required relatively large amounts of thorium, making widespread development impractical. The UCLA-led international team has ingeniously circumvented this hurdle by borrowing a technique from an unexpected source: jewelry making.

By using electroplating—a process commonly used to coat metals in the jewelry industry—the researchers were able to deposit an extremely thin layer of thorium onto stainless steel. This simple, cost-effective method uses an astonishing 1,000 times less thorium than previous approaches that required complex thorium-doped fluoride crystals (Source: ScienceDaily: An old jeweler's trick, UCLA Newsroom). This not only addresses the material scarcity issue but also results in a final product that is far more robust than the previously fragile crystals.

Perhaps even more remarkably, the team discovered that a long-held assumption in the field was incorrect. It was previously thought that the thorium nuclei needed to be embedded in a transparent material for laser light to excite them effectively. The new findings demonstrate that this is not the case. By directing enough laser light into the opaque electroplated steel, they can excite nuclei near the surface. Instead of emitting photons (light) like in transparent materials, these excited nuclei emit electrons, which are far easier to detect by simply monitoring an electrical current (Source: ScienceDaily).

The implications of this technology are vast. Beyond enhancing global positioning systems (GPS) and synchronizing power grids, ultra-precise nuclear clocks could provide critical navigation capabilities in GPS-denied environments, such as deep space or underwater in submarines (Source: UCLA Newsroom). Dr. Eric Burt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, though not involved in this specific research, highlights the potential: "Thorium nuclear clocks could revolutionize fundamental physics measurements and are essential for establishing a solar-system-wide time scale, crucial for a permanent human presence on other planets" (Source: ScienceDaily).

This breakthrough represents a major step forward from decades of research. As noted by Makan Mohageg from Boeing Technology Innovation, "The UCLA team's approach could help reduce the cost and complexity of future thorium-based nuclear clocks," potentially leading to more compact, high-stability timekeeping vital for future aerospace applications (Source: ScienceDaily).

With this significant advancement, the dream of practical nuclear clocks is no longer a distant possibility but a tangible future, promising unprecedented precision that could unlock new frontiers in science, technology, and exploration.

References

Conceptual image of futuristic precision timekeeping technology