Electrons caught in the act of tunnelling

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Each time a wave peak hits the atom the probability that an electron will be progressively released within a few 100 attoseconds increases. This phenomenon which was predicted in theory evaded direct observation for more than four decades -- an inter ...
Each time a wave peak hits the atom, the probability that an electron will be progressively released within a few 100 attoseconds increases. This phenomenon, which was predicted in theory, evaded direct observation for more than four decades -- an international team of scientists has now demonstrated it for the first time. Credit: Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics

We have to climb a mountain in order to conquer it. In quantum physics there is a different way: objects can reach the opposite side of a hill simply by tunnelling through it, instead of laboriously climbing over it. An international team of researchers working with Prof. Ferenc Krausz from the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics has now observed electrons in this tunnelling process.


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