Ultrafast Kapitza-Dirac effect. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38547290/)

These scientists were studying how electrons behave when they are hit by a special kind of light wave. Imagine the light wave as a bumpy road and the electrons as tiny cars driving on it. Normally, when the light wave hits the electrons, they move in a specific way, like going through a maze.

But these scientists wanted to see how the electrons move through the maze over time, like watching a video instead of just a picture. They used a very short burst of light that lasted only 60 femtoseconds (which is a very, very tiny amount of time). By doing this, they could see how the electrons moved and changed over time, almost like watching a slow-motion movie.

By studying this, the scientists discovered that the electrons behaved differently than they expected. This new way of looking at the electrons could help them understand more about how electrons move and interact with their surroundings. It's like looking at a puzzle from different angles to see how all the pieces fit together.

Lin K., Eckart S., Liang H., Hartung A., Jacob S., Ji Q., Schmidt LPH., Schoffler MS., Jahnke T., Kunitski M., Dorner R. Ultrafast Kapitza-Dirac effect. Science. 2024 Mar 29;383(6690):1467-1470. doi: 10.1126/science.adn1555. Epub 2024 Mar 28.