Ohio University physicists have been able to X-ray individual iron and terbium atoms for the first time. This discovery will help to better understand the chemical properties of these atoms. The results of the research were published in an article. magazine Nature.
To obtain images of atoms, scientists often use special microscopes that scan the sample with a probe. The current produced by the probe is predicted by scientists, and based on its properties, scientists can reconstruct an image of an atom.
The authors decided to create an X-ray version of such a system – “Synchrotron X-ray Scanning Tunnel Microscopy” (SX-STM). To do this, the sample is illuminated with a narrow beam of x-rays that excites the atom. Depending on the state of an atom, its electrons carry different energies and are in different orbits, absorbing photons of different wavelengths. This makes it possible to distinguish not only the atom itself, but also its chemical state.
“We were also able to determine the chemical states of individual atoms. By comparing their states in different molecular complexes, we showed that terbium, a rare earth metal, remained relatively isolated, while iron interacted markedly with its environment,” the authors concluded.
Former scientists of Penza State University (PSU) developed A new way to create energy-efficient lasers using wavelength tuning technology. The discovery can be widely used in spectroscopy in the development of quantum computers, the manufacture of microcircuits, the composition of substances, the study of drugs and information transmission systems.