“Revolutionizing Research: X-Ray Technology Now Able to Characterize Single Atoms”

Thinking about X-rays can bring up memories of broken bones or dental exams. But this highly energetic light can show us more than just our bones: it’s also used to study the molecular world, and even biochemical reactions in real time. However, one problem is that researchers have never been able to study single atoms with X-rays. So far.

Scientists have been able to characterize a single atom using X-rays. Not only could they tell what kind of atoms they saw (there are two different kinds), but they could also study the chemical behavior these atoms exhibited.

“Atoms can be imaged routinely with a scanning probe microscope, but without X-rays, one cannot tell what they are made of,” Professor Sao Wai Hla, senior author, Ohio University and Argonne National Laboratory, said in a paper. statement.

“Once we can do this, we can trace matter down to the limit of just one atom. It will have a huge impact on environmental science and medicine and maybe even find a treatment that could have a big impact on humanity. This discovery will change the world.”

The work was able to trace iron atoms and terbium atoms, elements that are part of the so-called rare earth metals. Both have been introduced into their molecular hosts. Conventional X-ray detectors have been supplemented with additional special detectors. The latter have a special sharp metal tip that must be placed very close to the sample in order to collect the X-ray excited electrons. From the measurements collected by the tip, the team was able to tell if it was iron or terbium, and that’s not all.

“We also discovered the chemical state of each atom,” explained Hla. “By comparing the chemical states of iron atoms and terbium atoms in specific molecular hosts, we found that atoms of terbium, a rare earth metal, are more or less isolated and do not change their chemical state when the iron atoms interact strongly with the environment.”

The signal visible to the detector is compared to the fingerprint. This allows researchers to understand the composition of the sample, as well as study its physical and chemical properties. This can be critical for improving the performance and application of many common and not so common materials.

“The techniques used, and the concepts demonstrated in this study, have opened new horizons in X-ray science and nanoscale studies,” said Tululop Michael Ajay, first author of the paper who undertook the work as part of his doctoral thesis. What’s more, using X-rays to detect and characterize individual atoms could revolutionize research and lead to new technologies in areas such as quantitative information and trace element detection in environmental and medical research, to name a few. This achievement also paved the way for advanced tools in materials science.”

This study has been published in the journal alam.