The breakthrough was achieved by a team from Ohio University, Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Illinois-Chicago and others, led by Ohio University professor of physics, and Argonne National Laboratory scientist, Saw Wai Hla.
Since their discovery in 1895, X-rays have been used extensively, from medical examinations to airport security screenings. Even Nasa’s Curiosity rover uses X-rays to study the material composition of rocks on the surface of Mars.
Over the years, the quantity of materials in a sample required for X-ray detection has been greatly reduced thanks to the development of synchrotron X-ray sources and new instruments.
But up to now, the smallest amount that can be X-rayed is an attogram, which is about 10,000 atoms or more. This is because the X-ray signal produced by an atom is extremely weak so it cannot be detected by conventional X-ray detectors.
“Atoms can be routinely imaged with scanning probe microscopes, but without...