For the first time ever, scientists have captured an image of a shadow thrown by a single atom. In this case, the atom is an Ytterbium ion, trapped in a vacuum and cooled down to only a few ‘millikelvin’ (which is VERY cold).
Researchers captured the image using their custom-built ion trap, which was also responsible for capturing the highest-resolution image of a single atom previously.
The question is, how many atoms do you need to cast a shadow? Scientists found that it only takes one! Learn more here.
October 4, 2012 at 4:03 pm |
[...] A single atom can throw a shadow, and researchers have captured it as an image. Credit: Centre for Quantum Dynamics [...]