Incredible scientific advance: for the first time a single atom X-ray was made
X-ray image of an atom
A new study led by scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Ohio and the University of Illinois-Chicago has revealed a shocking picture of the properties of a single atom, using only the X-ray technique, it reads in a University press release .
Since X-rays were discovered in the late 1800s, they have been an essential tool in many fields. Their ability to penetrate matter makes them very useful for imaging in medicine, materials research, archeology and astrophysics. X-rays are a type of very high-energy, short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation.
Traditional x-ray detection techniques, however, rely on the interaction of x-rays with many atoms in a sample to generate a detectable signal. This is because the signal produced by a single atom is weak and difficult to distinguish from background noise.
The previous benchmark for the smallest amount that can be X-rayed was 10,000 atoms, and this result is revolutionary by comparison. It could potentially revolutionize the way scientists and researchers detect materials.
How to do an atom x-ray
The team chose one atom of iron and one of terbium to take the single-atom radiograph.
Conventional X-ray detectors have been modified using a sharp metal tip, in combination with a synchrotron X-ray scanning tunneling microscope (SX-STEM), mainly used for nanoscale imaging and materials characterization, to detect electrons excited by X-rays of individual atoms.
Put simply, SX-STM allows scientists to use X-rays to see the elements within a material and understand their chemical composition. This happens by exciting (or energizing) the electrons in the nucleus of an atom. When these electrons absorb X-rays and become excited, they produce a unique fingerprint. This fingerprint, called the absorption spectrum, helps scientists identify the type of elements present in the material being studied.
The team found that the X-ray absorption spectra revealed unique fingerprints corresponding to iron and terbium atoms.
Characterization of the chemical states of atoms
The team also used X-ray tunnel resonance (X-ERT) to characterize the chemical states of atoms. They found that the X-ERT for the iron atom was dominant, revealing information about the atom's reactivity and interactions.
Interestingly, the researchers noted that the X-ray signal could only be detected when the specific tip was placed in close proximity to the atom. This confirmed that the detection was highly localized and focused on the atom of interest, allowing for detailed characterization and analysis of the atom's properties and behaviour.
“This result links synchrotron X-rays with the quantum tunneling process to detect the X-ray signature of a single atom and opens up many interesting research directions, including research into the quantum and spin (magnetic) properties of a single atom using synchrotron X-rays,” said Professor Saw Wai Hla, principal investigator, in a press release.
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The article Incredible scientific progress: for the first time a single atom X-ray has been made comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/incredivbile-avanzamento-scientifico-per-la-prima-volta-fatta-una-radiografia-a-un-singolo-atomo/ on Thu, 01 Jun 2023 16:25:39 +0000.