Measure an internal atomic event within a trillionth of a second

This is considered the shortest event ever measured.

Back in the 1905, Albert Einstein described a process that he called the photoelectric effect (or optical radiation) , in which electrons are released from the atom after being absorbed by energy from light. It seems to be a flashy process, and for many years we can only observe and study its effects.

Physicists discovered that an event could be accurately measured at a rate of 850 zeptos.

Fortunately, this is no longer a difficult observation event. Recently, German physicists at Ludwig Maximilian Munich University and Max Planck Quantum Optics Institute have measured the time this process takes place when one of the two electrons in the helium atom escapes from the atom after being compared. Working with light. By using lasers, they discovered that it was possible to accurately measure such an event at a rate of up to 850 zeptos, a measure of time equivalent to a trillionth of a second.

Specifically, the time from when a photon reaches two electrons to activate motion until an electron escapes is about 5 - 15 attoseconds (one atto second equals one trillionth of a trillionth of a second) . There has never been an internal atomic event measured so accurately. This is considered the shortest event ever measured.

No camera can capture events so quickly. Instead, physicists fired a pulse of ultraviolet light on a helium atom in 1 atto second, almost immediately afterwards firing an infrared pulse into the same position in 4 femtoseconds (a femtosecond equals one millionth of a million of a second). Infrared pulses are extended longer, then the electrons escape. The electromagnetic field of the infrared pulse can then be viewed and determined if the electron accelerates or decelerates. This process also allows researchers to confirm when one of the electrons absorbs a portion of the photon energy or absorbs all the energy.

This is not only a great achievement, but also draws a clearer picture of how atoms work and thereby opens up a method of examining atomic theories through experimentation.