X-Rays , Reveal Secrets of a, Single Atom .<br />ScienceAlert reports that scientists have <br />successfully used X-rays to characterize <br />the properties of a single atom.<br />Here, we show that X-rays can be <br />used to characterize the elemental <br />and chemical state of just one atom, Tolulope Ajayi, physicist at Ohio University <br />and Argonne National Laboratory, via ScienceAlert.<br />The team successfully combined <br />synchrotron X-rays with a technique <br />known as scanning tunneling microscopy.<br />The technique interacts with the electrons <br />of test material in a process <br />called "quantum tunneling.".<br />In 2022, the team published a paper on how the <br />technique could be used to rotate a single molecule.<br />Now, the team has measured the <br />properties of a single atom of iron.<br />Amplified X-rays excite the sample <br />and then a detector is used to <br />collect the resulting photoelectrons.<br />ScienceAlert reports that the technique <br />offers some exciting possibilities.<br />The team's latest work was <br />published in the journal 'Nature.'.<br />Our work, connects synchrotron X-rays <br />with a quantum tunneling process and <br />opens future X-rays experiments for <br />simultaneous characterizations of elemental <br />and chemical properties of materials <br />at the ultimate single-atom limit, Study authors' statement, via ScienceAlert
