Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Physicists observe electron ejected from atom for first time | Science Blog

Physicists observe electron ejected from atom for first time | Science Blog: "In the experiments, an electron in a krypton atom is removed by a laser pulse that lasts less than four femtoseconds (one femtosecond is one millionth of one billionth of a second). This process leaves behind an atom with a pulsating positively charged hole in the valence shell, which originates from electronic wave functions of the atom.

The scientists led by Dr. Steve Leone, an ultrafast laser expert and the recent recipient of a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship, used an extreme ultraviolet light pulse, the duration for which was 150 attoseconds (one attosecond is one billionth of one billionth of a second), to capture and photograph the movement of valence electrons for the first time."

No comments:

Post a Comment