According to the press release, the new achievement will be useful in the development of more accurate electron microscopes, and
Shorter electron pulses providehigher data transfer speed. Employees at the University of Rostock in Germany worked to reduce their length as much as possible.
In conventional circuits, electron pulseslimited by the frequency with which they vibrate within the substance. As scientists explain, the pulse must last at least half the cycle of these oscillations, because it creates a “pushing force” for the electrons. But light vibrates at a much higher frequency. So the scientists used a short flash of light to trigger a pulse of electrons.
Using this technique, in 2016 physicistscreated a flash of visible light lasting only 380 attoseconds. Now they've gone even further and used lasers to knock electrons from the tip of a tungsten needle into a vacuum. As a result, they recorded an electron pulse lasting 53 attoseconds. This is five times less time than it takes for an electron to orbit the nucleus in a hydrogen atom.
Such a short pulse of electrons will improve the performance of electron microscopes, allowing them to more clearly record the movement of particles.
Read more:
Earth's core will soon be spinning in a different direction
A giant sunspot is turning towards the Earth. It is visible to the naked eye
10 seconds closer to the end of the world: what will happen if the Doomsday Clock strikes