Revolutionary X-Ray Microscope Unveils Sound Waves Deep Within Crystals
October 10, 2023 | SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Stanford University, and Denmark Technical University have designed a cutting-edge X-ray microscope capable of directly observing sound waves at the tiniest of scales – the lattice level within a crystal. These findings, published last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could change the way scientists study ultrafast changes in materials and the resulting properties.
“The atomic structure of crystalline materials gives rise to their properties and associated ‘use-case’ for an application,” said one of the researchers, Leora Dresselhaus-Marais, an assistant professor at Stanford and SLAC. “The crystalline defects and atomic scale displacements describe why some materials strengthen while others shatter in response to the same force. Blacksmiths and semiconductor manufacturing have perfected our ability to control some types of defects, however, few techniques today can image these dynamics in real-time at the appropriate scales to resolve how those the distortions connect to the bulk properties.”
In this new work, the team generated soundwaves in a diamond crystal, then used the new X-ray microscope they developed to directly image the subtle distortions inside the crystalline lattice. They did so at the timescales at which these atomic-scale vibrations naturally occur by leveraging the ultrafast and ultrabright pulses available at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).
The researchers placed a special X-ray lens along the beam diffracted by the crystalline lattice to filter out the “perfectly packed” portion of the crystal and zero in on distortions in the crystal's structure caused by the sound wave and defects.
“We used this to image how an ultrafast laser transfers its light energy into heat via successive reflections of the out-of-equilibrium sound wave off the front and back surface of the crystal.” Dresselhaus-Marais said. “By showing this in diamond – a crystal with the fastest sound speed – we illustrate the new opportunities now available with our microscope to study new phenomena deep inside crystals.”
The results identify a way to see super-fast changes in materials without damaging them. Before this discovery, the tools researchers used were much too slow to see these changes. This matters because many things, like how heat moves or how sound waves spread, depend on these fast changes.
The implications of this breakthrough stretch across various disciplines, from materials science to physics, and even extend to fields like geology and manufacturing. By understanding the atomic-level changes that lead to larger observable events in materials, scientists can get a clearer picture of transformations, melting processes, and chemical reactions in materials – accessing a new 13 orders of magnitude of timescales.
“This new tool offers us a unique opportunity to study how rare events caused by defects, atomic-distortions, or other localized stimuli inside a lattice give rise to macroscopic changes in materials,” Dresselhaus-Marais said. “While our understanding of the macroscopic changes in materials is rather advanced, we are often missing the details of which ‘instigating events’ ultimately cause the phase transformations, melting, or chemistry we observe at larger scales. With ultrashort timescales now at our fingertips, we have the ability to hunt for these rare events at their native timescales.”
Suggested Items
LQDX Divests Aluminum Soldering Business - Mina™ - to Taiyo America Inc.
05/02/2024 | PRNewswireLQDX, formerly known as Averatek Corp., developer of high-performance materials for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, today announced that it has divested its aluminum soldering business – known as MinaTM – to Taiyo America Inc., a global market leader in advanced electronic materials.
Indium Corporation Expert to Present on Pb-Free Solder for Die-Attach in Discrete Power Applications
04/30/2024 | Indium CorporationIndium Corporation Product Manager – Semiconductor Dean Payne will present at the Advanced Packaging for Power Electronics conference, hosted by IMAPS, held May 8-9 in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA.
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Adhesive Materials and Equipment Update with Dymax
05/01/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOVirginia Hogan, global business development manager at Dymax, discusses adhesive materials, dispensing and curing equipment, a new, high-reliability conformal coating, and various materials and dispensing methods.
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Sustainability in the Industry
04/26/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOGuest Editor Henry Crandall and Chris Nash of Indium Corporation discuss the company's 90th anniversary and its focus on sustainability. They focus on the benefits of sustainable materials, their compatibility, and value propositions. The conversation also highlights how Durafuse LT technology's role in reducing reflow temperatures is leading to significant cost and energy savings. Nash also touches on downstream sustainability efforts such as using recycled materials for packaging.
SMC Korea 2024 to Highlight Semiconductor Materials Trends and Innovations on Industry’s Path to $1 Trillion
04/24/2024 | SEMIWith Korea a major consumer of semiconductor materials and advanced materials a key driver of innovation on the industry’s path to $1 trillion, industry leaders and experts will gather at SMC (Strategic Materials Conference) Korea 2024 on May 29 at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea to provide insights into the latest materials developments and trends. Registration is open.