TechDigits

Tech news
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Chinese-led team claims physics breakthrough

Chinese-led team claims physics breakthrough

Generation of powerful electron beam could could rewrite Einstein theory on photoelectric effect.
A Chinese-led research team has generated powerful electron beams with unprecedented efficiency, a scientific breakthrough that could rewrite Albert Einstein's Nobel Prize winning theory, according to a new paper.

In March 1905, Einstein published a paper explaining the photoelectric effect. When light falls on specific material, electrons might be emitted from its surface. This phenomenon has helped humans understand the quantum nature of light and electrons.

A century passed and the theory became a foundation for many modern technologies that rely on light detection or electron-beam generation. High-energy electron beams have been widely used to analyse crystal structures, treat cancer, kill bacteria and machine alloy.

However, most of the materials that convert photons into electrons, known as photocathodes, were discovered about 60 years ago. All photocathodes a defect: the electrons they generate are dispersed in angle and speed.

By using a new material, He Ruihua, of Westlake University in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province, and his team overcame the defence and acquired concentrated electrons. The finding by researchers in China, Japan and the US could raise the energy level of an acquired electron-beam by at least an order of magnitude.

The team's paper was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on March 8.

They used strontium titanate (SrTiO3), a quantum material with myriad interesting properties. Electron beams obtained after exciting SrTiO3 generated electron beams with consistency - also called coherence.

"Coherence is important to the beam, it concentrates the flow like a pipe on the tap. Without the pipe, water will spray everywhere when the tap is wide open. Without coherence, electrons will scatter," said Hong Caiyun, an author of the paper.

"With the coherence we acquired, we can increase the beam intensity while the beam could maintain its direction."

The photoemission intensity of SrTiO3 is greatly enhanced.

"This exceptional performance suggests novel physics beyond the well-established theoretical framework for photoemission," Hong said.

The discovery has driven the team to find a new theory to explain the unparalleled coherence.

"We came up with an explanation as a supplement to Einstein's original theoretical framework. It's in another paper which is under review right now," Professor He said.

Co-author Arun Bansil of Northeastern University in the US, hailed the finding in a Phys.org report.

"This is a big deal because there is no mechanism within our existing understanding of photoemission that can produce such an effect. In other words, we don't have any theory for this, currently, so it is a miraculous breakthrough in that sense," Bansil said.

According to Hong, the new theory predicts a host of materials with the same photoemissive properties as SrTiO3.

"SrTiO3 presents the first example of a fundamentally new class of photocathode quantum materials. It opens new prospects for applications that require intense electron beams," she said.

The research team did not respond, either in its paper or in interviews, to whether high-energy electron beams would be used in weapons.

Professor He said the discovery emerged from their focus on a traditional technology, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (Arpes). Arpes is widely used to study electron structures in solid materials. It measures the energy and emission angle of photoelectrons.

"In the past few decades, physics and material scientists mainly used Arpes to study the electronic structures related to the optical, electrical and thermal properties. Our team adapted an unconventional configuration of Arpes, and measured another part that's more related to the photoelectric effect," He said.

"During the test we found the unusual photoemission properties of SrTiO3. Previously, quantum oxide materials represented by strontium titanate were mainly studied as substitutes for semiconductors, and are currently used in the fields of electronics and photocatalysis.

"The material will definitely be promising in the field of photocathode in the future."

Newsletter

Related Articles

TechDigits
0:00
0:00
Close
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
Melinda French Gates Advocates for Increased Female Representation in AI to Prevent Bias
Snapchat+ gains 4 million paying subscribers in its first year
Apple Makes History as the First Public Company Valued at $3 Trillion
Elon Musk Implements Twitter Limits to Tackle Data Scraping, but Faces Criticism for Technical Misunderstanding
EU and UK's Slow Electric Vehicle Adoption Raises Questions About the Transition to Green Mobility
Top Companies Express Concerns Over Europe's Proposed AI Law, Citing Competitiveness and Investment Risks
Meta Unveils Insights on AI Usage in Facebook and Instagram, Amid Growing Calls for Transparency
Crypto Scams Against Seniors Soar by 78% in 2022, Experts Urge Vigilance
The End of an Era: National Geographic Dismisses Last of Its Staff Writers
Shield Your Wallet: The Perils of Wireless Credit Card Theft
Harvard Scientist Who Studies Honesty Accused Of Data Fraud, Put On Leave
Putting an End to the Subscription Snare: The Battle Against Unwitting Commitments
The Legal Perils of AI: Lawyer Faces Sanctions for Relying on Fictional Cases Generated by Chatbot
ChatGPT’s "Grandma Exploit": Ingenious Hack Exposes Loophole in AI, Generates Free Software Codes
The Disney Downturn: A Near Billion-Dollar Box Office Blow for the House of Mouse
A Digital Showdown: Canada Challenges Tech Giants with The Online News Act, Meta Strikes Back
Distress in the Depths: Submersible and Passengers Missing in Titanic Wreckage Expedition
Mark Zuckerberg stealing another idea: Twitter
European Union's AI Regulations Risk Self-Sabotage, Cautions smart and brave Venture Capitalist Joe Lonsdale
Nvidia GPUs are so hard to get that rich venture capitalists are buying them for the startups they invest in
Chinese car exports surge
Reddit Blackout: Thousands of Communities Protest "Ludicrous" Pricing Changes
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
×