Next-Generation Precision: Pursuing Seconds at One Nuclear Decay Level
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In a fascinating blend of science and creativity, Mihai Cuciuc, the inventor of the Pomelo gamma-ray spectroscope, has created a unique one-hertz clock using a low-activity radioactive source. Known as the "Vetinari Clock," this ingenious device ticks at 1 Hz based on actual radioactive decay events.
The heart of the one-becquerel clock is a one-becquerel Am-241 source, which emits about one alpha decay event per second on average. This radioactivity is filtered through the Pomelo gamma-ray spectroscope, a sensitive detector designed to discriminate and detect gamma rays emitted from the Am-241 decay product.
To ensure accurate counting of the decay events, Cuciuc uses two Pomelo solid-state scintillation detectors as a coincidence detector. When both detectors go off simultaneously, it counts as an event and triggers the clock to tick.
The radioactivity is inherently stochastic, so the device uses statistical smoothing over time to keep reasonably accurate time. The inverse square law was used to optimize detection geometry, ensuring a manageable count rate. This approach results in a clock with an interestingly imperfect, somewhat noisy ticking behavior, losing about 0.4 seconds daily.
The one-becquerel clock is a hackaday challenge entry that creatively leverages low-level emissions from Americium-241 and gamma-ray spectroscopy to generate a one-tick-per-second signal. It highlights both the challenges of using radioactive decay with long half-lives for timekeeping and the clever use of sensitive detection and microcontroller processing to turn random decay events into a usable timing signal.
Interestingly, the design of the one-becquerel clock is inspired by the Vetinari Clock, first conceived in the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. Despite its instability, the one-becquerel clock, complete with a Geiger-counter sound effect in its demo video, inflicts psychic damage due to its unique nature.
The Becquerel (Bq) is an SI unit of radioactivity, equivalent to one radioactive decay per second. The one-becquerel clock, despite its imperfections, represents a remarkable achievement in the field of radioactive timekeeping.
[1] Cuciuc, M. (2020). One-Becquerel Clock. [Online]. Available: https://hackaday.io/project/169314-one-becquerel-clock
[2] Cuciuc, M. (2020). Pomelo Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy. [Online]. Available: https://hackaday.io/project/151655-pomelo-gamma-ray-spectroscopy
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