Tiniest Particles Shrink Before Exploding When Hit with SLAC's X-Ray Laser
Friday, January 29, 2016 - 15:40
in Physics & Chemistry
Researchers assumed that tiny objects would instantly blow up when hit by extremely intense light from the world's most powerful X-ray laser at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. But to their astonishment, these nanoparticles initially shrank instead - a finding that provides a glimpse of the unusual world of superheated nanomaterials that could eventually also help scientists further develop X-ray techniques for taking atomic images of individual molecules.