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Picture of a Single Atom Wins Science Photo Contest
A remarkable photo of a single atom trapped by electric fields has just been awarded the top prize in a well-known science photography competition. The photo is titled "Single Atom in an Ion Trap" and was shot by David Nadlinger of the University of Oxford.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK today announced the winning photos of its national science photography competition. Nadlinger's grand prize photo shows an atom as a speck of light between two metal electrodes placed about 2mm (0.078in) apart.
From EPSRC:
When illuminated by a laser of the right blue-violet colour the atom absorbs and re-emits light particles sufficiently quickly for an ordinary camera to capture it in a long exposure photograph. The winning picture was taken through a window of the ultra-high vacuum chamber that houses the ion trap.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday February 13 2018, @09:53PM
I remember seeing this same thing, a single glowing atom photographed by its own light, years ago on a science documentary.
Sadly I don't remember the name of the documentary I was watching, I think it was something from the BBC. I do remember that the setup was even simpler than the one shown in this article. IIRCC they used tuned radio waves, a needle for an antenna , and a vacuum chamber.
They created a very rarefied atmosphere in the chamber and waited for an atom to just float through the eye of the needle where the radio waves cause the atom to glow. Then a a high rez camera took a picture.
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