idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
A group of theoretical physicists headed by Oriol Romero-Isart from the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information and the University of Innsbruck observes a surprising quantum effect when short light pulses interact with matter. In the future, this effect may be used for developing a completely new type of far-field light nanoscopes.
The invention of the light microscope marks the beginning of modern science; its application has enabled scientists to answer fundamental scientific questions. Microscopes are still an extremely important tool in research and are standard equipment in many laboratories. Chemistry Nobel laureate Stefan Hell coined the term nanoscopes for describing high-resolution or far-field light microscopes because they also show objects in the nanometer sphere. Together with Ignacio Cirac from the Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching, Oriol Romero-Isart and PhD student Patrick Maurer have now made a discovery that may lead to a completely new scheme for far-field light nanoscopy.
The light’s wavelength poses a limit to the resolution of light microscopes. However, by applying some technical adjustments, scientists are able to circumvent the obstacles and achieve higher resolutions. In a theoretical paper published in the current issue of Physical Review Letters, the physicists in Innsbruck have now demonstrated how a train of attosecond pulses of polychromatic light could be used to excite a two-level system, which is a basic model system in quantum mechanics. After a short period of time the system returns to its ground state thereby emitting a light particle that can be detected. “Since we can focus attosecond lasers really well, our new approach may lead to the development of a new technology for nanoscopes,” says an excited Romero-Isart, whose research group also studies topics in the field of nano-optics.
“The light pulse spectrum could range from radiofrequencies to ultraviolet light,” explains Maurer. “The resolution will be determined by the mean wave length of the light.” The duration of the light pulse has to be extremely short, that is in the attosecond range - an attosecond is a billionth of a billionth of a second. The next step for the scientists is to calculate their approach with real molecules to pave the way for developing novel nanoscopes.
Publication: Ultrashort Pulses for Far-Field Nanoscopy. Patrick Maurer, J. Ignacio Cirac, and Oriol Romero-Isart. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 103602 – Published 29 August 2016
doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.103602
Rückfragehinweis:
Oriol Romero-Isart
Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation
Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
phone: +43 512 507 4730
email: oriol.romero-isart@uibk.ac.at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.103602 - Ultrashort Pulses for Far-Field Nanoscopy. Patrick Maurer, J. Ignacio Cirac, and Oriol Romero-Isart. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 103602
http://iqoqi.at/en/group-page-romero-isart - Quantum Nanophysics, Optics and Information, IQOQI
Innsbruck physicists observe a surprising quantum effect when short light pulses interact with matte ...
Source: Patrick Maurer
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists, all interested persons
Physics / astronomy
transregional, national
Research results, Scientific Publications
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
