First X-ray of a single atom

Date:
May 31, 2023
Source:
Ohio University
Summary:
Scientists have taken the world's first X-ray SIGNAL (or
SIGNATURE) of just one atom. This groundbreaking achievement could
revolutionize the way scientists detect the materials.


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FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A team of scientists 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, have taken the world's first X-ray SIGNAL (or SIGNATURE) of just one
atom. This groundbreaking achievement was funded by the U.S. Department
of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences and could revolutionize the
way scientists detect the materials.

Since its discovery by Roentgen in 1895, X-rays have been used everywhere,
from medical examinations to security screenings in airports. Even
Curiosity, NASA's Mars rover, is equipped with an X-ray device to
examine the materials composition of the rocks in Mars. An important
usage of X-rays in science is to identify the type of materials in a
sample. 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-rays sources and new instruments. To date, the smallest
amount one can X-ray a sample is in attogram, that is about 10,000
atoms or more. This is due to the X-ray signal produced by an atom being extremely weak so that the conventional X-ray detectors cannot be used
to detect it. According to Hla, it is a long-standing dream of scientists
to X-ray just one atom, which is now being realized by the research team
led by him.

"Atoms can be routinely imaged with scanning probe microscopes, but
without X- rays one cannot tell what they are made of. We can now
detect exactly the type of a particular atom, one atom-at-a-time, and
can simultaneously measure its chemical state," explained Hla, who is
also the director of the Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute
at Ohio University. "Once we are able to do that, we can trace the
materials down to ultimate limit of just one atom. This will have a
great impact on environmental and medical sciences and maybe even find
a cure that can have a huge impact for humankind. This discovery will
transform the world." Their paper, published in the scientific journal
Nature on May 31, 2023, and gracing the cover of the print version of
the scientific journal on June 1, 2023, details how Hla and several
other physicists and chemists, including Ph.D. students at OHIO, used
a purpose-built synchrotron X-ray instrument at the XTIP beamline of
Advanced Photon Source and the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory.

For demonstration, the team chose an iron atom and a terbium atom,
both inserted in respective molecular hosts. To detect X-ray signal
of one atom, the research team supplemented conventional detectors in
X-rays with a specialized detector made of a sharp metal tip positioned
at extreme proximity to the sample to collect X-ray excited electrons --
a technique known as synchrotron X-ray scanning tunneling microscopy or
SX-STM. X-ray spectroscopy in SX-STM is triggered by photoabsorption of
core level electrons, which constitutes elemental fingerprints and is
effective in identifying the elemental type of the materials directly.

According to Hla, the spectrums are like fingerprints, each one being
unique and able to detect exactly what it is.

"The technique used, and concept proven in this study, broke new ground
in X- ray science and nanoscale studies," said Tolulope Michael Ajayi,
who is the first author of the paper and doing this work as part of his
Ph.D. thesis.

"More so, using X-rays to detect and characterize individual atoms
could revolutionize research and give birth to new technologies in
areas such as quantum information and the detection of trace elements
in environmental and medical research, to name a few. This achievement
also opens the road for advanced materials science instrumentation."
For the last 12 years, Hla has been involved in the development of an
SX-STM instrument and its measurement methods together with Volker Rose,
a scientist at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

"I have been able to successfully supervise four OHIO graduate students
for their Ph.D. theses related to SX-STM method development over a
12-year period.

We have come a long way to achieve the detection of a single atom X-ray signature," Hla said.

Hla's study is focused on nano and quantum sciences with a particular
emphasis on understanding materials' chemical and physical properties
at the fundamental level -- on an individual atom basis. In addition
to achieving X-ray signature of one atom, the team's key goal was to
use this technique to investigate the environmental effect on a single rare-earth atom.

"We have detected the chemical states of individual atoms as well," Hla explained. "By comparing the chemical states of an iron atom and a terbium
atom inside respective molecular hosts, we find that the terbium atom,
a rare-earth metal, is rather isolated and does not change its chemical
state while the iron atom strongly interacts with its surrounding."
Many rare-earth materials are used in everyday devices, such as cell
phones, computers and televisions, to name a few, and are extremely
important in creating and advancing technology. Through this discovery, scientists can now identify not only the type of element but its chemical
state as well, which will allow them to better manipulate the atoms
inside different materials hosts to meet the ever-changing needs in
various fields. Moreover, they have also developed a new method called
"X-ray excited resonance tunneling or X-ERT" that allows them to detect
how orbitals of a single molecule orient on a material surface using synchrotron X-rays.

"This achievement connects synchrotron X-rays with quantum tunneling
process to detect X-ray signature of an individual atom and opens many
exciting research directions including the research on quantum and
spin (magnetic) properties of just one atom using synchrotron X-rays,"
Hla said.

In addition to Ajayi, several other OHIO graduate students including
current Ph.D. students Sineth Premarathna in Physics and Xinyue Cheng
in Chemistry, as well as Ph.D. in Physics alumni Sanjoy Sarkar, Shaoze
Wang, Kyaw Zin Latt, Tomas Rojas, and Anh T. Ngo, currently an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois-Chicago,
were involved in this research. College of Arts and Sciences Roenigk
Chair and Professor of Chemistry Eric Masson designed and synthesized
the rare earth molecule used in this study.

Going forward, Hla and his research team will continue to use X-rays to
detect properties of just one atom and find ways to further revolutionize
their applications for use in gathering critical materials research
and more.

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========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_University. Original written
by Samantha Pelham.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Tolulope M. Ajayi, Nozomi Shirato, Tomas Rojas, Sarah Wieghold,
Xinyue
Cheng, Kyaw Zin Latt, Daniel J. Trainer, Naveen K. Dandu, Yiming
Li, Sineth Premarathna, Sanjoy Sarkar, Daniel Rosenmann, Yuzi
Liu, Nathalie Kyritsakas, Shaoze Wang, Eric Masson, Volker Rose,
Xiaopeng Li, Anh T.

Ngo, Saw-Wai Hla. Characterization of just one atom using
synchrotron X- rays. Nature, 2023; 618 (7963): 69 DOI:
10.1038/s41586-023-06011-w ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230531150120.htm

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