Physicists image individual molecules by watching them absorb light
Friday, April 14, 2017 - 07:11
in Physics & Chemistry
What do ships, bats and torpedoes have in common? They navigate by emitting sound waves and listening where those get absorbed or reflected. Humans do the same with light waves, except that they rely on external sources like the sun for the original emission. However when looking at something as small as a single molecule this becomes problematic, as light waves, not to mention sound waves, are bigger than the object itself.