Transparent aluminium is 'new state of matter'
July 27, 2009
Experimental set-up at the FLASH laser used to discover the new state of matter.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. 'Transparent aluminium' previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.
In this week’s Nature Physics an international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminium atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,’ said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper. ‘Transparent aluminium is just the start. The physical properties of the matter we are creating are relevant to the conditions inside large planets, and we also hope that by studying it we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on during the creation of 'miniature stars' created by high-power laser implosions, which may one day allow the power of nuclear fusion to be harnessed here on Earth.’
The discovery was made possible with the development of a new source of radiation that is ten billion times brighter than any synchrotron in the world (such as the UK’s Diamond Light Source). The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminium turned transparent.
Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period - an estimated 40 femtoseconds - it demonstrates that such an exotic state of matter can be created using very high power X-ray sources.
Professor Wark added: ‘What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that we have turned ordinary aluminium into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser. For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter. In certain respects, the way it reacts is as though we had changed every aluminium atom into silicon: it’s almost as surprising as finding that you can turn lead into gold with light!’
The researchers believe that the new approach is an ideal way to create and study such exotic states of matter and will lead to further work relevant to areas as diverse as planetary science, astrophysics and nuclear fusion power.
A report of the research, 'Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization', is published in Nature Physics. The research was carried out by an international team led by Oxford University scientists Professor Justin Wark, Dr Bob Nagler, Dr Gianluca Gregori, William Murphy, Sam Vinko and Thomas Whitcher.
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Provided by Oxford University (news : web)
Sep 02, 2010
*yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn*
That was an entire team. Hard to fake this type of claim.
I remember that in Star Trek when Scott gave to a guy the formula to create transparent aluminum or aluminium. Who could imagine that something, even if not exactly like that, would be possible? I am teaching science to my kids but also motivate them to read science fiction stories.
Except for AGW. They would NEVER falsify their data or models just to get their share of $17B (since 1988.)
How quickly science fiction becomes science fact.
A possible use, someone is already thinking about making it, useful.
Is the aluminium decompressed or compressed? What happens when you decompress it?
(doesn't "mean" anything, it's just a hunch!)
The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
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Now that we have created transparent aluminum that lasts for "no time at all" maybe we should take the power from this INCREDIBLE "Laser" and power a city with the "short flash" instead of creating the illusive invisible metal.
Simple answer is that we can study the material and the laser implosion to help understand miniature stars. For example nuclear fusion that would provide almost unlimited power.
We need to try and explore to move forward...
What if Scottie was right? What if there is a way to stabilize "invisible" aluminium?
I don't want to sound ignorant towards this kind of research, it's just that lately I've been wondering is it really necessary right here and right now?
Remember, power is different thing than energy.
Hey everyone I just invented the wheel, come and look!
Because it would power the city only for 40 femtoseconds (Power is not equal to Energy).
Lasers of this kind are decidedly NOT built for continuous operation. The actual energy used in the experiment is rather small - just like a flash of lightning has a lot of POWER, but not a lot of ENERGY.
Example: At 10 million volts and 10000 Amperes and one microsecond duration a flash has only 0.027 kWh of Energy. For comparison: an average citizen uses about 6000kWH of Energy per year.
Or for this experiment (assuming a city needs something on the order of 1GW of power): At 40 femtoseconds that would be merely a total ENERGY output of about 10 nanoWattHours. You couldn't light up an LED with the energy provided by this experiment.
I remember some time ago when people were trying to transfer power wirelessly. Nowadays, it can be done, but just not effectively enough yet. In another few years, I would say it would be mainstream.
Every large scientific discovery takes one small discover to start it.
Personally, I congratulate them on their accomplishment!!
No more than glass is another name for silicon. Sapphire is an oxide of aluminum just like glass is an oxide of silicon. Making a metal transparent is a tad harder than making an oxide transparent. I think it has to do with those electrons wandering around.
Ethelred
direct energy power source.
the issues are creating more energy than you expend firing the laser and capturing the energy that is created and transferring that energy to the power grid
and yes i do have a design for a magnetic energy generator and designs on creating new batteries and the flash transfer of power
If there is a change of state and modification to electron distribution, is it still a metal?
Perhaps it is a saphire momentarily but more likely just a gas!
Come on, this is really not transparent aluminum, and I don't believe they proved this a new state of matter. At best it might be considered an altered state due to the way the radiation "knocked out" an electron. These scientists or the article writer should word the facts in a factual way. While Transpartent aluminum may be possible, this procedure will probably not produce it anytime soon, unless they want to produce continual radiation to keep it transparent.
Ethelred
Yes, in previous FLASH studies they demonstrated diffraction by soft X-ray (EUV) before the dielectric sample exploded as a plasma.
Heavier atoms (like xenon) binds their electrons so strongly, the full removal of electrons requires usage of energy densities, under which atom nuclei decomposes. Neverthelles the remaining electrons exhibits strong Lamb shift and another interesting phenomena due the vacuum fluctuations, so that scientists are trying to prepare stripped atom nuclei in larger amount.
True. However the point was that silicon is opaque whereas silicon oxide is transparent. Much like aluminum oxide.
Ethelred
http://hasylab.de...eng.html
It means, at extreme energy density whole atom behaves like homogeneous ball of quarks with fuzzy boundary between atom nuclues and atom orbital in simmilar way, like at the center of giant stars.
A bit off-topic: the article's title sounds like a fashion magazine headline.