The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three scientists for their work on attoseconds, which could lead to breakthroughs in electronics and chemistry.
Three scientists Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, Anne L'Huillier received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics. Photo: CNN
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that scientists Pierre Agostini (55 years old), Ferenc Krausz (61 years old) and Anne L'Huillier (65 years old) are the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics, for their experimental methods to create attosecond light pulses to study electron dynamics in matter, at 4:45 p.m. on October 3 (Hanoi time).
Their work with lasers gives scientists the tools to observe and even control electrons. This could spur breakthroughs in fields as diverse as electronics and chemistry.
An attosecond is one billionth of a billionth of a second. To put that in perspective, there are as many attoseconds in a second as there have been seconds in the entire 13.8 billion-year history of the universe. According to Hans Jakob Woerner, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), the attosecond is the shortest period of time that humans can measure directly.
The ability to operate within this timeframe is important because this is the speed at which electrons - the essential components of atoms - operate. For example, it takes an electron 150 attoseconds to travel around the nucleus of a hydrogen atom.
This means that studying attoseconds gives scientists access to a fundamental process that was previously out of reach. Every electronic device is affected by the movement of electrons, and the current speed limit is nanoseconds, according to Woerner. If microprocessors were converted to attoseconds, processing information a billion times faster could be possible.
An atom consists of a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons. Photo: Rost-9D/Getty
French-born Swedish physicist Anne L'Huillier was the first to develop a tool to open up the attosecond world. The tool uses a high-powered laser to create pulses of light in extremely short intervals.
Franck Lepine, a researcher at the French Institute of Light and Matter who worked with L'Huillier, describes the device as a film made for electrons. He compares it to the work of two pioneering French filmmakers, the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, who constructed scenes by taking successive photographs. John Tisch, professor of laser physics at Imperial College London, says it is like a device that uses extremely fast pulses of light to fire at materials and get information about their behavior over that time.
All three winners of yesterday's prize previously held the world record for the shortest light pulse. In 2001, French scientist Pierre Agostini's team created a light pulse lasting just 250 attoseconds. L'Huillier's team surpassed that record with 170 attoseconds in 2003. In 2008, Austrian-Hungarian physicist Ferenc Krausz more than halved that number with an 80-attosecond pulse.
Woerner's team currently holds the Guinness World Record for the shortest light pulse, at 43 attoseconds. The duration could be further reduced to just a few attoseconds with current technology, Woerner estimates.
Attosecond technology is not yet mainstream, but the future looks promising, experts say. So far, scientists have mostly been able to use attoseconds to observe electrons. Controlling electrons and controlling their movements is not yet possible, or is only just beginning to be possible, according to Woerner. This could make electronics much faster, and spark a revolution in chemistry.
“We wouldn’t be limited to what molecules do naturally, but instead could tailor them to our needs,” Woerner said. “Atto chemistry,” he added, could lead to more efficient solar cells, or even use light energy to produce clean fuels.
Thu Thao (According to AFP )
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