Researchers build shortest wavelength atomic laser

TOKYO, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A team of researchers in Japan have developed an atomic laser that operates at the shortest wavelength yet. The feat opens the door for new and improved high-resolution X-ray imaging technologies.

X-rays are a specific type of radiation, featuring wavelengths ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometers. The amplified radiation of a laser beam, on the other hand, typically features wavelengths in the slightly longer UV range.

Scientists began shrinking the wavelengths of laser radiation in the 1960s, allowing lasers to function in a manner similar to X-rays. The technology allowed researchers to produce contrast images -- like those a doctor might use to diagnose a bone break -- of much smaller targets, like a molecule.

Ever since, scientists have been trying to create lasers with smaller and smaller wavelengths -- further stabilizing the laser's X-ray abilities and improving imaging resolutions. The smaller the wavelength, the more detailed the image.

Recently, scientists at Japan's Institute of Lasers built on previous advances, as researcher Linda Young explained, by "bombarding a copper foil with two X-ray pulses tuned to slightly different energies."

The technique expels electrons from their atomic homes, magnifying them into a concentrated stream. The result is a hard-X-ray inner-shell atomic laser capable of producing a beam at tiny wavelengths -- 1.5 angstrom, or 0.1 nanometers.

The technology, detailed in the journal Nature, isn't yet ready for the big time, researchers say. But the breakthrough is expected to eventually produce more stable and concentrated high-res X-ray capabilities -- with potential applications in the fields of particle physics and medicine.