Most normal people would not realize that science has never been able to X-ray an atom.
The best current synchrotron scanners can manage is X-ray imaging — about 10,000 atoms — but the signal produced by a single atom is too weak for conventional detectors. So far.
The feat was accomplished thanks to a purpose-built synchrotron instrument at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois using a technique known as SX-STM (Synchrotron X-ray Scanning Tunneling Microscopy).
The researchers behind the breakthrough say it paves the way for finding cures for major life-threatening diseases, development of ultrafast quantum computers, and other advances in materials and environmental sciences.
Atoms are the particles that make up molecules, and the limit at which any substance can chemically decompose. In a golf ball there are many golf balls that can be inserted into the ground.
The SX-STM can now scale that down to a minuscule degree. The feat has been described as the “holy grail” of physics, and a longtime dream of OSU Professor Saw Wai Hla, lead author of the paper describing the discovery.
“Atoms can be imaged routinely with a scanning probe microscope – but without X-rays, one cannot tell what they are made of,” explains Dr. Hla. We can now detect precisely certain types of atoms, one atom at a time, and we can simultaneously measure their chemical state. This discovery will change the world.”
Since their discovery by Roentgen in 1895, X-rays have been used in many applications and fields, from medical screening to security screening at airports.
Other major breakthroughs: New brain implant devices can restore function to paralyzed limbs
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity is equipped with an X-ray engine to examine rock formations.
An important use of X-rays in science is to determine the type of material in a sample. Over the years, the amount of material in samples required for X-ray detection has been greatly reduced thanks to the development of synchrotron X-rays.
The SX-STM collects excited electrons, particles on the outer surface of atoms that move around the protons and neutrons within, and the spectrum generated in this way is like a fingerprint that allows accurate detection of atoms.
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“The techniques used, and the concepts demonstrated in this study, have opened new horizons in X-ray science and nanoscale studies,” said Tululop lead author Michael Ajay, PhD student at Ohio State.
“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.”
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2023-06-05 22:37:02
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