Physics Nobel Prize 2023
Current Situation:
- Scientists Anne L’Huillier, Pierre Agostini, and Ferenc Krausz have recently been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2023 for their work making it simpler to view electrons.
- Because of their work, humanity now has more tools at its disposal to explore the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. They have shown how to produce incredibly brief light pulses that can be utilised to gauge how quickly electrons travel or alter their energy.
Regarding their research project:
- A nucleus of protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons, makes up an atom, a minuscule unit into which matter can be split.
- Since electrons move so quickly, real-time observation is not possible. Thanks to the efforts of L’Huillier, Agostini, and Krausz, it is now possible to observe and investigate the motion of electrons by creating light pulses that last only attoseconds, or 1×10−18 of a second.
- This is comparable, in general, to a high-shutter-speed camera. An image of a moving train taken with a regular camera will be hazy. However, a camera with a fast shutter speed can stop motion and get a clear picture of the train.
Atto Second Physics:
- Any process that is to be observed needs to have measurements made more quickly than it is changing. That’s how crisp photos of things in motion are produced.
- The only practical means of capturing atomic-level processes is by light pulses, which cannot be continuously shortened.
- Waves, or vibrations in the electromagnetic field, are what make up light. Its wavelength, or at least one cycle, would have to be met by the shortest pulse that could exist.
- Previously, it would take several femtoseconds to complete this cycle for various types of light generated by laser systems.
- This outlasted the subatomic motion, which took place in a few attoseconds. As a result, scientists could not see electron mobility with the tools available to them.
What was their method?
- On the Nobel website, it states that L’Huillier made the discovery in 1987 that a laser light wave might interact with atoms in a noble gas to give some electrons more energy, which could subsequently be released as light.
- Pierre Agostini was able to create and study a sequence of successive light pulses, sometimes known as flashes of light, in 2001. Each pulse lasted only 250 attoseconds.
- According to the Nobel website, Ferenc Krausz was also working on an experiment type that allowed for the isolation of a single light pulse with a duration of 650 attoseconds.
- Images of atomic processes were made feasible by these light bursts.
What makes this work significant?
- Applications for attosecond science can be found in many fields, including electronics, biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as in medicine.
- It has created a new entryway into the realm of electrons. The study of atom-second physics allows us to comprehend mechanisms that are controlled by electrons.
- Developing more effective electrical devices can also benefit from a deeper comprehension of the motion and energy transmission of electrons.
- Examining molecular alterations in blood to detect illnesses is one potential use. Medical science is one of the fields where this technology is now being used for study, especially in the hunt for cancer treatment methods.
