Plate Nº 53 · recorded October 19, 2026
PhysicsReported finding
Record-Short X-Ray Flashes: 300 Attoseconds at European XFEL
Researchers at the European XFEL have generated 300-attosecond X-ray flashes at record intensity, sharpening science's view of electron behavior in chemical reactions.
By Elena Vasquez2 min read422 words
In brief
- Researchers produced X-ray flashes lasting 300 attoseconds at the European XFEL.
- The pulses reached record intensity for this type of ultrashort X-ray light.
- One attosecond is 10⁻¹⁸ seconds — the timescale on which electrons move inside atoms and molecules.
- The flashes are intended to probe, and eventually help control, electrons in chemical reactions.
Researchers have produced X-ray flashes lasting just 300 attoseconds at the European XFEL facility — a record intensity for pulses of this type. An attosecond is one quintillionth of a second, a time scale so short that light itself barely moves during one.
The work matters because chemistry happens fast. To understand chemical reactions — and perhaps one day control the electrons driving them — scientists need a detailed picture of how electrons behave inside atoms and molecules. Electrons rearrange on attosecond timescales, so the probing flashlight must be at least that brief.
X-rays offer a way to probe that behavior. Ordinary X-ray sources, though, produce pulses far too long to freeze electronic motion. Shorter flashes exist, but until now they have lacked the intensity to deliver sharp, useful measurements.
How short is 300 attoseconds?
Extremely short. One attosecond is 10⁻¹⁸ of a second — a billionth of a billionth. If you scaled one second up to the age of the universe, an attosecond would still be shorter than a blink.
That's the scale on which electrons move. To watch — and eventually steer — electron behavior in chemical reactions, researchers need pulses matched to that clock. The new European XFEL flashes fit the bill.
What does the record mean for science?
Two things come together in this result: brevity and brightness.
- Brevity. At 300 attoseconds, each flash is short enough to capture electronic motion without smearing it over time.
- Brightness. The pulses reached record intensity for their kind, meaning each flash carries enough photons to produce a measurable signal.
Speed alone isn't enough. A faint flash may freeze the action but leave scientists with an underexposed picture. Intensity is what turns a stopwatch into a usable camera.
The combination could let researchers track how electrons shift, tunnel, and bond during reactions — the fundamental machinery of chemistry.
What are the limits?
Plenty remains preliminary. Producing record pulses in a facility doesn't yet mean routine, everyday experiments; turning a demonstration into a workhorse tool takes further development and validation.
And "perhaps one day control the electrons" is exactly that — a long-term aspiration, not a delivered capability. Watching electrons is the current frontier. Steering them is the hoped-for next step.
Still, the milestone is concrete: ultrashort X-ray flashes at record intensity, generated at a user facility built for exactly this kind of frontier work.
The takeaway: scientists can now fire X-ray flashes 300 attoseconds long at record brightness, opening a sharper window onto the electron-level mechanics of chemistry.
via google.com (Original)
More from Elena Vasquez
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Correspondent covering money, funding and market shifts around general science news at SciBeat.
255 articles
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