Lastest News

  • May 15 2023         Physics Viewpoint: Testing gravity’s effect on quantum spins


    A new search for an interaction between a particle’s intrinsic spin and Earth’s gravitational field probes physics in the regime where quantum theory meets gravity.

    Physics Viewpoint: Testing gravity’s effect on quantum spins   Source: American Physical Society

  • May 2023         Trapped-atom analysis pushes calcium-41 onto the radiometric dating scene


    With recent advances in laser technology and cold-atom methods, the technique’s sensitivity to the isotope has reached environmental levels.

    Physics Today   Source: Physics Today, Search and Discovery

  • April 20 2023         Laser cooling unlocks metal tracer


    Atom trap trace analysis has emerged as a powerful technique for detecting trace radioisotopes of noble gases. The successful application of the method to a calcium isotope now opens the possibility of extension to other metal isotopes.

    Laser cooling unlocks metal tracer   Source: Nature Phyisics, News & Views

  • August 06 2021         An improved instrument for 39Ar dating of water samples


    A cosmogenic radioisotope with 269-year half-life and a unique age span, 39Ar is an ideal tracer for age-dating glaciers, oceans, and groundwater. It can help scientists better understand the global water cycle and Earth’s climate history.

    Typically, 39Ar is difficult to detect due to its extremely low isotopic abundance. To this end, Tong et al. developed an instrument to measure the 39Ar isotope in environmental water samples with greater precision using an analytical method called atom trap trace analysis (ATTA).

    An improved instrument for 39Ar dating of water samples   Source: American Institute of Physics

  • Jan 30 2018         TANGR2018


    3rd International Workshop on Tracer Applications of Noble Gas Radionuclides in the Geosciences(TANGR2018)

    This workshop is dedicated to the study of noble gas radionuclides 85Kr, 39Ar, and 81Kr, three natural tracers for the circulation of water and ice in the environment. Together with 14C, these radionuclides cover an age scale ranging continuously from a few years to 1.4 million years.

    TANGR 2018

  • Jan 08 2018         Significant Progress in Helium Spectroscopy


    近日，中国科学技术大学激光精密测量与痕量探测研究组（atta.ustc.edu.cn）将氦-4原子2S-2P跃迁能级中心频率测定到了1.4kHz的精度，相对精度 5.1×10−12，该结果于12月28日在线发表在物理评论快报Phys. Rev. Lett. 119: 263002 (2017)。论文第一作者为博士研究生郑昕，通讯作者为特任副研究员孙羽博士和胡水明教授。这是该课题组继氦-4原子23PJ能级精细结构分裂测量[Phys. Rev. Lett.118: 063001　(2017)]后在该领域获得的又一个重要的成果。