The Mother of all microscopes

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by BillDayson, Apr 17, 2009.

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  1. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Here's something that I thought was absolutely mind-boggling, straight out of science-fiction.

    Stanford University's Applied physics research page talks about Ultrafast Science:

    http://www.stanford.edu/dept/app-physics/research.html

    Ultrafast: Femtoscience: Atoms in a molecule or a solid move very quickly. The primary atomic motions involved in vision, or photosynthesis, or melting, all take less than a picosecond. Ultrafast lasers can more than keep up with this, so lasers can act like strobe lights with ultrafast shutter speeds to freeze atomic motion. Much physics and chemistry research is devoted to these kinds of ultrafast observations, in the femtosecond range.

    Shorter still: Attoscience: The shortest laser pulses are now less that one thousandth of a picosecond, in the sub-femtosecond range. At these extreme shutter speeds, the laser pulses can begin to capture the motion of electrons within atoms. Such pulses must have sub-optical wavelengths, since the pulse duration is less than a single cycle of visible radiation. This attosecond vacuum ultraviolet coherent radiation has recently been produced through atomic nonlinear processes, and it may soon give us our first images of electrons moving in molecules.


    and even more amazing than that...

    Ultrafast control: Ultrafast laser pulses can do more than just detect atomic motion. They can also be used to control basic quantum processes in atoms and molecules. Ultrafast quantum control research uses pulse shaping techniques to create new optical waveforms that can enhance light-induced processes, or even direct photochemical reactions along new paths. The optimal field may not be obvious, but programmable pulse shapers can use clues from the photochemical process itself to evolve new optical field shapes. In this way, the molecule teaches the laser how to perform an atomic-level task.

    Here's the Photon Ultrafast Laser Science and Engineering (PULSE) laboratory at SLAC, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

    http://pulse.slac.stanford.edu/WhatIsPulse.asp

    They say...

    Why is the LCLS so special?

    Simply put, LCLS is the first tool in human history capable of producing light with a wavelength on the scale of atomic length, field strength, and time. For the first time we will be able to "see" quantum processes on the atomic scale.

    Our challenge is to make this happen.


    LCLS is their Linac Coherent Light Source. Its website is here:

    http://lcls.slac.stanford.edu/

    Here's a more detailed description of what they are up to:

    http://lcls.slac.stanford.edu/WhatIsLCLS_1.aspx

    LCLS isn't exactly your daddy's old tabletop microscope. It's two miles long! It's the old SLAC linear accelerator, that as we speak is being reconstructed into the mother of all X-ray laser microscopes.

    Here's a photograph of just one small part of it (the "undulators"):

    [​IMG]

    Here's an overview of the whole operation:

    [​IMG]

    Watching quantum mechanics? (Kind of like old Monty Python episodes, I'll bet.)
     
  2. raristud

    raristud Member

    I wonder if its possible to adapt this technology to freeze an object like a moving pencil. Is this similar to stopping time?
     
  3. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I can see why people would be so excited about such technology. It gives rise to all sorts of fascinating questions and scenarios. Thanks for the link.
     

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