Physicists Set World Record in Generating Short Signals
Physicists from the University of Constanta have set a world record by generating one of the shortest signals ever created by a person. The team, consisting of Maxim Tsarev, Johannes Tourner, and Peter Baum, developed a new experimental installation that enables the generation of electronic impulses in Attoseconds, which are quintillion fractions of a second. This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for studying ultra-fast processes.
The scientists used pairs of femtosecond light bursts from a laser. This technique allows them to observe processes at an unprecedented level, which would be unattainable using ordinary light waves alone. The groundbreaking work has been published in the prestigious journal Nature Physics.
To achieve their results, the researchers carefully adjusted the angles and frequency of the light waves to synchronize with the motion of particles in a vacuum. Generally, electromagnetic waves in a vacuum do not cause continuous changes in electron speeds due to the laws of conservation of energy and impulse.
However, in this experiment, the Kapitsa-Direk effect came into play. With the presence of two photons in a wave moving slower than the speed of light, this restriction can be overcome. The scientists utilized panderomotor force to direct electrons towards points with minimal amplitude.
Panderomotor force refers to the average force acting on a particle within an alternating electromagnetic field.
The duration of the signals obtained was approximately five Attoseconds. Physicist Johannes Tourner explained, “Instead of observing uniform movement in the source signals, we observed a wide range of speeds. This is because some electrons slow down or accelerate during the creation of short pulses.”
According to Professor Peter Baum, although this development is still in its initial stage, it possesses immense potential. He stated, “Double-photon compression allows us to work within different time frames and potentially even study nuclear reactions.”