Slashdot: "Physicists Inadvertently Generated the Shortest X-Ray Pulses Ever Observed"

[mikeymikec]

Physicists Inadvertently Generated the Shortest X-Ray Pulses Ever Observed - Slashdot

Physicists using SLAC's X-ray free-electron laser discovered two new laser phenomena that allowed them to generate the shortest, highest-energy X-ray pulses ever recorded (60-100 attoseconds). These breakthroughs could let scientists observe electron motion and chemical bond formation in real...

science.slashdot.org

In this new study we used X-rays, which have 100 million times shorter wavelengths than microwaves and 100 million times more energy. This meant the resulting new X-ray laser pulses were split into different X-ray wavelengths corresponding to Rabi frequencies in the extreme ultraviolet region. Ultraviolet light has a frequency 100 million times higher than radio waves. This Rabi cycling effect allowed us to generate the shortest high-energy X-ray pulses to date, clocking in at 60-100 attoseconds.

First stop: a search engine. Query: What is an attosecond

Wiki's answer:

An attosecond (abbreviated as as) is a unit of time in the International System of Units (SI) equal to 10−18 or 1⁄1 000 000 000 000 000 000 (one quintillionth) of a second.

The slobbering consumer in me is then reminded of the Watchmen quote:

"I've... seen events so tiny and so fast that they hardly can be said to have occurred at all."

 

[WelshBloke]

Physicists Inadvertently Generated the Shortest X-Ray Pulses Ever Observed - Slashdot

Physicists using SLAC's X-ray free-electron laser discovered two new laser phenomena that allowed them to generate the shortest, highest-energy X-ray pulses ever recorded (60-100 attoseconds). These breakthroughs could let scientists observe electron motion and chemical bond formation in real...

science.slashdot.org

First stop: a search engine. Query: What is an attosecond

Wiki's answer:


The slobbering consumer in me is then reminded of the Watchmen quote:

"I've... seen events so tiny and so fast that they hardly can be said to have occurred at all."

When you convert 60 attoseconds into plank time it doesn't seem so fast!

It's 1123779708685200000000000000 Plank time!


That's a rabbit hole I'm enjoying exploring!

 

[IronWing]

That blurb is annoying in that it mixes terminology describing wavelength and duration. Apparently, the experiment produced both very short wavelengths and very short duration pulses.

 

[hal2kilo]

When you convert 60 attoseconds into plank time it doesn't seem so fast!

It's 1123779708685200000000000000 Plank time!


That's a rabbit hole I'm enjoying exploring!

Might be able to see chemical reactions in progress, if they can strobe it. Was interested in X-ray lithography way back. Even made some bucks on some penny stocks.

 

[UNCjigga]

Wake me up when they apply this to lithography and we get 65,536 core GPUs.

 

[Moonbeam]

All I know that it should be plank time for Mega aboard the USS Constitution far out at sea.

 

[hal2kilo]

Wake me up when they apply this to lithography and we get 65,536 core GPUs.

Tech stalled due to several issues. Cannot use lenses to reduce a mask. Masks are one to one, requiring creation with e bean tech. X-rays have to be very collimated and even. Hasn't gone anywhere.

 

[IronWing]

X-rays have a habit of ionizing everything they gaze upon so x-ray lithography is unlikely.