All-optical subcycle microscopy on atomic length scales. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38720038/)

These scientists wanted to see really tiny things, like atoms, in a new and better way. They used a special kind of microscope called super-resolution microscopy, which helps them see things that are smaller than what regular microscopes can see. They also used a technique called near-field microscopy, which allowed them to see things even more clearly.

But there was a problem - the tip of the microscope was too big to see individual atoms. So, the scientists came up with a new way to make the microscope even more powerful. They used extreme atomic properties to make the microscope see things at an incredibly small scale - even smaller than a picometer, which is a trillionth of a meter.

With this new technique, they were able to see tiny defects that were too small for other microscopes to detect. They could also watch how electrons move in materials in just a fraction of a second. This helped them learn more about how light and matter interact at the smallest levels, and how things work in quantum materials.

Overall, these scientists found a way to see things at the tiniest levels ever seen before, helping us understand the world of atoms and electrons in a whole new way.

Siday T., Hayes J., Schiegl F., Sandner F., Menden P., Bergbauer V., Zizlsperger M., Nerreter S., Lingl S., Repp J., Wilhelm J., Huber MA., Gerasimenko YA., Huber R. All-optical subcycle microscopy on atomic length scales. Nature. 2024 May;629(8011):329-334. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07355-7. Epub 2024 May 8.