X-Rays , Reveal Secrets of a, Single Atom .
ScienceAlert reports that scientists have
successfully used X-rays to characterize
the properties of a single atom.
Here, we show that X-rays can be
used to characterize the elemental
and chemical state of just one atom, Tolulope Ajayi, physicist at Ohio University
and Argonne National Laboratory, via ScienceAlert.
The team successfully combined
synchrotron X-rays with a technique
known as scanning tunneling microscopy.
The technique interacts with the electrons
of test material in a process
called "quantum tunneling.".
In 2022, the team published a paper on how the
technique could be used to rotate a single molecule.
Now, the team has measured the
properties of a single atom of iron.
Amplified X-rays excite the sample
and then a detector is used to
collect the resulting photoelectrons.
ScienceAlert reports that the technique
offers some exciting possibilities.
The team's latest work was
published in the journal 'Nature.'.
Our work, connects synchrotron X-rays
with a quantum tunneling process and
opens future X-rays experiments for
simultaneous characterizations of elemental
and chemical properties of materials
at the ultimate single-atom limit, Study authors' statement, via ScienceAlert