Researchers take first steps toward X-ray superfluorescence
(PhysOrg.com) -- While physicist Robert Dicke is probably most famous for his work on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and being "scooped" while attempting to be the first to detect it he also performed important work in optics. In 1954, Dicke was the first to describe the phenomenon of "superradiance," the coherent radiation that is so intense and emitted so rapidly that he described it as an "optical bomb." Although he originally thought the phenomenon involved only microwave radiation, it was later found to occur at much shorter wavelengths, and so has been renamed superfluorescence. More than 50 years later, scientists are still developing new techniques for producing superfluorescence. In a recent study, a team of scientists based in Japan has observed superfluorescence by collectively exciting helium atoms with a laser operating in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region.