Atomic shadow photography

^{Ytterbium atom shadow, photo before and after filtering}

Scientists from the Center for Quantum Dynamics at the University of Griffith (Brisbane, Australia) were the first in the world to photograph the shadow of a single atom . Scientists are close to the theoretical limit of microscopy, because a single atom is a minimal object that can be seen in visible light.

The laser-cooled ytterbium ion ( ¹⁷⁴ Yb ⁺ ) was captured into an ion cyclotron trap and illuminated at a resonating wave of 369.5 nm, which was absorbed by the ion. The resulting shadow was recorded through a Fresnel lens on a cooled CCD array.


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According to scientists, such experiments help us better understand atomic physics and can be useful for quantum computers.