A new study headed by the Gwangju Institute of Science has led to the creation of a method of measuring the time that it takes for an electron inside of an atom to respond to a light pulse, according to a press release. The team behind the study utilized a light-field synthesizer to create pulses of light that traveled at such high speeds that they were able to measure the amount of time that it took electrons in an atom to respond when struck.
Many scientists believe that photons will eventually replace electrons in high-speed computers, meaning research that sheds light on the connection between the two is necessary. One potential factor that could help reveal the characteristics of this connection is determining what happens when photons hit electrons that are still in their atom, and how long it takes them to respond.
The team examined this issue using a light-field synthesizer, a device that creates pulses of light just half of a single wavelength long, which is such a short period of time that they only last for that half wavelength interval, which is approximately 380 attoseconds. By combining several pulses of light together, but maintaining a slight phase shift, the pulses ultimately cancel out and create a very short duration.
During the experiments, the team fired these short light pulses at krypton atoms that were sustained inside of a vacuum, revealing that it took the electrons 115 attoseconds to respond, marking the first-ever measurement of an electron's response time to a visible light pulse.
Future studies by the team aim to examine how electrons behave in other materials as well as discovering a way to characterize the amplitude and phase of radiation possessed by atoms driven by a light field.
The findings were published in the Feb. 3 issue of Nature.
