Viewing the ultra-fast at SSRL: First pump-probe experiments under way
Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - 14:00
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- X-rays have been used for more than a century to expose the invisible in many of its forms. When a family doctor studies an X-ray of a broken leg or an agent scans a carry-on bag at an airport security gate, hard X-rays, with their ability to penetrate beyond the surface of a material, reveal hidden objects. Pharmaceutical researchers on the trail of new drugs to combat illnesses use the tiny wavelengths of X-rays to illuminate miniscule viruses. Biologists identify particular pollutants, such as arsenic leaching into ground water or lead particulates in air by exposing samples to X-rays and seeing with which wavelengths they resonate.