Don't be intimidated by the title. The black hole, accidentally created by employees of the Slac National Accelerator Laboratory, turned out to be only one atom in size, so nothing threatens us. And the name "Black Hole" only remotely describes the phenomenon observed by researchers. We have repeatedly told you about the world's most powerful X-ray laser, called the Linac Coherent Light Source (linear coherent light source - English
. This device was developed so that researchers could see with their own eyes all the beauty of the microscopic level. But as a result of chance, the laser created a miniature molecular black hole.
In January 2012, Lcls was used to recreate a sort of tiny star in the lab. The laser created dense matter, heated to a temperature of 2,000,000 degrees Celsius. Scientists have for some time come closer to understanding what exactly happens inside the sun. But the researchers had no plans to create a black hole, even a molecular one. This event was the result of pure chance during one of the many experiments.
Lcls irradiates objects with incredibly bright X-ray flashes lasting just a few femtoseconds. In another experiment, the scientists used mirrors to focus a laser beam into a spot only 100 nanometers in diameter, about 100 times smaller than usual. The purpose of the experiment was to study the reaction of heavy atoms to the impact of hard X-rays. That is why it was important to focus the laser beam as much as possible. The resulting power can be compared to all the sunlight falling on the earth, if it is focused into a spot the size of a human fingernail.
The scientists directed all this energy to xenon atoms, containing 54 electrons each, as well as to iodine atoms, which have 53 electrons each. The researchers assumed that those electrons that are closest to the center of the atoms would be removed, which, in fact, would allow for some time to create a semblance of "Hollow Atoms" until electrons from outer orbits begin to fill the gaps. In the case of xenon, this is exactly what happened. But iodine behaved completely differently. Its atoms, which are part of two molecules, after the loss of electrons, turned into a kind of black hole, drawing electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms into itself. The laser knocked out foreign electrons drawn into the atom until it completely destroyed the entire molecule.
It was assumed that the iodine atom would lose only 47 electrons, but taking into account the drawn electrons from neighboring atoms, scientists counted 54 pieces. And this is a smaller molecule. As for the large molecule, the researchers are still analyzing the results of the experiment. This is not so easy to do, but scientists plan to continue their research in this direction. The results of the unusual experience were published in the journal Nature.
Don't be intimidated by the title. The black hole, accidentally created by the staff of the National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC, turned out to be only the size of one single atom, so that nothing threatens us. Yeah, and the title "black hole" only remotely describes the phenomenon contemplated by researchers. We have repeatedly told you about the world's most powerful X-ray laser, carrying the title of Linac Coherent Light Source (Linear measurement of coherent light - English). This design was developed so that researchers could see all the beauties of the microscopic level with their burkals. However, as a result of chance, the laser created a miniature molecular black hole.
In January 2012, LCLS was used to recreate a sort of tiny star in the lab. The laser created dense matter, heated to a temperature of 2,000,000 degrees Celsius. Scientists for some time came closer to understanding what actually happens inside the Sun. However, the researchers had no plans to create a black hole, even a molecular one. This event was the result of an irreproachable accident during one of the many experiments.
LCLS irradiates objects with unimaginably bright X-ray flashes lasting only a few femtoseconds. In another experiment, the scientists used mirrors to focus a laser beam into a spot only 100 nanometers in diameter, about 100 nanometers smaller than usual. The purpose of the experiment was to find the reaction of heavy atoms to the impact of hard X-rays. Actually, therefore, it was majestic to focus the laser beam as much as possible. The resulting power can be compared to all the sunlight that hits the ground when it is focused into a spot the size of a human fingernail.
All this energy scientists have brought to xenon atoms, which include 54 electrons each, as well as to iodine atoms, which have 53 electrons each. The researchers assumed that those electrons that are located most intimately to the center of the atoms will be removed, which, in fact, will allow for some time to create a kind of “hollow atoms” until electrons from outer orbits begin to fill the intervals. In the case of xenon, this actually happened. But iodine behaved completely differently. Its atoms, representing part of two molecules, after the loss of electrons, turned into a kind of black hole, drawing electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms into itself. The laser knocked out foreign electrons drawn into the atom until it completely broke the entire molecule.
It was assumed that the iodine atom would lose a total of 47 electrons, however, taking into account the drawn electrons from neighboring atoms, scientists counted 54 pieces. And this is a smaller molecule. What touches a large molecule, researchers are still analyzing the results of the experiment. This is not so easy to do, but scientists plan to continue their research in the present current. The results of the unusual experiment were published in the journal Nature.
An international team of scientists has found that when organic molecules are irradiated with intense X-rays, a microscopic analogue of a black hole appears. This discovery will help to more accurately elucidate the structure of complex molecules and biological materials. talks about a new study published in the journal Nature.
X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) are a type of lasers that generate x-rays suitable for studying the structure of biological molecules. A beam of electrons moving along a sinusoidal path through an undulator (or wiggler) - a device that is a series of magnets - is used as the working body of the RLSE. In this case, the electrons emit photons that form a narrow cone of X-ray radiation.
X-rays are electromagnetic waves with a fairly short wavelength, which allows them to be used to study very small objects (the shorter the wavelength, the finer details can be seen with it). However, there is a significant problem: short-wave radiation has a high energy. As a result, instead of knowing the structure of a biological molecule, we burn it. Femtosecond lasers - lasers of ultrashort pulses - help to get around this difficulty.
Femtosecond - one quadrillion fraction of a second (10 -15 s.) The X-ray pulses generated by this type of RLSE last approximately 5-50 femtoseconds. With such short, but super-powerful (up to 10-20 watts per square centimeter) pulses, the sample does not have time to collapse before scientists receive its image. However, there are limitations here as well. Such intense pulses are suitable for studying complex materials and biological systems, but not for fundamental molecular research, for which weaker X-rays are used.
The fact is that when atoms are irradiated with intense X-rays, they reach a high degree of ionization due to multiphoton absorption. In molecules consisting of different atoms, this happens with the heaviest atom (which has a higher atomic number), provided that for it the probability of absorbing a photon is much higher than for neighboring nuclei. After that, the resulting charge is distributed throughout the molecule. Such ionization can lead to local damage to the sample and, as a result, distortion of the pattern.
Scientists have learned to predict distortion when using soft or not very intense x-ray pulses. For this, models were developed based on an isolated atom ionized under the same conditions. However, it remained unknown whether the same processes could be simulated in polyatomic molecules with harder and more intense radiation.
To answer this question, an international scientific team used the LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source) free electron laser at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the United States. Isolated xenon atoms, gaseous iodomethane (CH 3 I) and iodobenzene (C 6 H 5 I) molecules were exposed to X-rays at a photon energy of 8.3 kiloelectronvolts (keV) and an intensity of 10 19 watts per square centimeter. The duration of each pulse was less than 30 femtoseconds. The yield and kinetic energy of the formed ions were measured.
It was found that the maximum levels of ionization of xenon atoms and iodine CH 3 I ions were comparable with each other (48+ and 47+, respectively). This was not observed in experiments with soft X-rays and a photon energy of 5.5 keV, where the level of ionization of individual atoms was higher than that of atoms with a similar serial number in the molecule. The largest received charge of the entire iodomethane molecule reached 54+ (this means that the X-ray knocked out 54 electrons from it), which exceeded the maximum positive charge of xenon.
Physicists used a theoretical model to explain this result. Hydrogen and carbon contained in CH 3 I slightly absorb photons due to their small effective cross section. This quantity determines the probability of interaction between an atom and a particle, and it depends on the size of the atom.
The larger iodine atom has a larger effective cross section. Almost all the photons absorbed by the molecule fall on it, and this leads to its ionization - the loss of 47 electrons (carbon is also ionized, but only by four electrons). The Auger effect occurs when an atom becomes unstable and is forced to fill the resulting vacancies with electrons located on other (outer) electron shells. As a result, energy is released, which can be transferred to other electrons, forcing them to leave the atom. Thus, the process takes on a cascading character. As a result, a high positive charge is formed, localized in the iodine atom.
The mechanism proposed by the researchers, called CREXIM (charge-rearrangement-enhanced X-ray ionization of molecules), makes it possible to predict experimental data. This is important because "black holes" cause the positive charge to repulse the molecule apart, and this distorts the resulting image. Iodomethane in this work serves as a "model" molecule, which can be used to judge the behavior of other, more complex molecules.
Don't be intimidated by the title. The black hole, accidentally created by the staff of the National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC, turned out to be only one atom in size, so nothing threatens us. And the name "black hole" only remotely describes the phenomenon observed by researchers. We have repeatedly told you about the world's most powerful X-ray laser, called the Linac Coherent Light Source (Linear Coherent Light Source - English). This device was developed so that researchers could see with their own eyes all the beauty of the microscopic level. But by chance, the laser created a miniature molecular black hole.
In January 2012, LCLS was used to recreate a sort of tiny star in the lab. The laser created dense matter, heated to a temperature of 2,000,000 degrees Celsius. Scientists have for some time come closer to understanding what exactly happens inside the Sun. But the researchers had no plans to create a black hole, even a molecular one. This event was the result of pure chance during one of the many experiments.
LCLS irradiates objects with incredibly bright X-ray flashes lasting just a few femtoseconds. In another experiment, the scientists used mirrors to focus a laser beam into a spot only 100 nanometers in diameter, about 100 times smaller than usual. The purpose of the experiment was to study the reaction of heavy atoms to the impact of hard X-rays. That is why it was important to focus the laser beam as much as possible. The resulting power can be compared to all the sunlight falling on the earth, if it is focused into a spot the size of a human fingernail.
All this energy, the scientists sent to xenon atoms, containing 54 electrons each, as well as to iodine atoms, which have 53 electrons each. The researchers assumed that those electrons that are closest to the center of the atoms would be removed, which, in fact, would create a kind of "hollow atoms" for some time until electrons from outer orbits began to fill the gaps. In the case of xenon, this is exactly what happened. But iodine behaved completely differently. Its atoms, which are part of two molecules, after the loss of electrons, turned into a kind of black hole, drawing electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms into itself. The laser knocked out foreign electrons drawn into the atom until it completely destroyed the entire molecule.
It was assumed that the iodine atom would lose only 47 electrons, but taking into account the drawn electrons from neighboring atoms, scientists counted 54 pieces. And this is a smaller molecule. As for the large molecule, the researchers are still analyzing the results of the experiment. This is not so easy to do, but scientists plan to continue their research in this direction. The results of the unusual experience were published in the journal Nature.
Scientists accidentally created a molecular black hole
Don't be intimidated by the title. The black hole, accidentally created by the staff of the National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC, turned out to be only one atom in size, so nothing threatens us. And the name "black hole" only remotely describes the phenomenon observed by researchers. We have repeatedly told you about the world's most powerful X-ray laser, called the Linac Coherent Light Source (Linear Coherent Light Source - English). This device was developed so that researchers could see with their own eyes all the beauties of the microscopic level. But by chance, the laser created a miniature molecular black hole.
In January 2012, LCLS was used to recreate a sort of tiny star in the lab. The laser created dense matter, heated to a temperature of 2,000,000 degrees Celsius. Scientists have for some time come closer to understanding what exactly happens inside the Sun. But the researchers had no plans to create a black hole, even a molecular one. This event was the result of pure chance during one of the many experiments.
LCLS irradiates objects with incredibly bright X-ray flashes lasting just a few femtoseconds. In another experiment, the scientists used mirrors to focus a laser beam into a spot only 100 nanometers in diameter, about 100 times smaller than usual. The purpose of the experiment was to study the reaction of heavy atoms to the impact of hard X-rays. That is why it was important to focus the laser beam as much as possible. The resulting power can be compared to all the sunlight falling on the earth, if it is focused into a spot the size of a human fingernail.
All this energy, the scientists sent to xenon atoms, containing 54 electrons each, as well as to iodine atoms, which have 53 electrons each. The researchers assumed that those electrons that are closest to the center of the atoms would be removed, which, in fact, would create a kind of "hollow atoms" for some time until electrons from outer orbits began to fill the gaps. In the case of xenon, this is exactly what happened. But iodine behaved completely differently. Its atoms, which are part of two molecules, after the loss of electrons, turned into a kind of black hole, drawing electrons from neighboring carbon and hydrogen atoms into itself. The laser knocked out foreign electrons drawn into the atom until it completely destroyed the entire molecule.
It was assumed that the iodine atom would lose only 47 electrons, but taking into account the drawn electrons from neighboring atoms, scientists counted 54 pieces. And this is a smaller molecule. As for the large molecule, the researchers are still analyzing the results of the experiment. This is not so easy to do, but scientists plan to continue their research in this direction. The results of the unusual experience were published in the journal Nature.
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