Gott in Himmel! German scientists shine an X-ray through solid iron



Updated: 18:01 GMT, 8 February 2012







































































































German scientists have successfully shone an X-ray through iron.





A team of scientists at the PETRA III accelerator in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld made the nuclei of iron atoms transparent using a high-powered X-ray light source and platinum mirrors.





































The discovery - bouncing X-rays around the iron to make X-rays travel through  could pave the way for futuristic `quantum` computers.



A team of scientists at the PETRA III accelerator in Hamburg-Bahrenfeld made the nuclei of iron atoms transparent using a high-powered X-ray light source and platinum mirrors



The scientists positioned two thin layers of atoms in an optical cavity, an arrangement of two parallel platinum mirrors that reflect X-rays.



The light `bouncing` between layers makes the layer of iron transparent.





































The discovery could have important implications for future `quantum` computers.





During the experiment, light is also slowed down from its normal speed of 300,000 metres per second to just a few metres per second.



The scientists, led by Dr.















Ralf Röhlsberger, are now looking at `whether it is possible to use this effect scientifically. `





The team says, `A possible application is the storage of information with extremely slow or even stopped light pulses.` 



The two layers of iron-57 atoms, each approximately three nanometres thick, were kept in position between the two platinum mirrors by carbon, which is transparent for X-ray light of the wavelength used.





































This kind of sandwich with a total thickness of only 50 nanometres is irradiated under very shallow angles with an extremely thin X-ray beam from the PETRA III synchrotron light source.





Within this mirror system, the light is reflected back and forth several times, generating a standing wave, a so-called resonance.





















When the light wavelength and the distance between both iron layers are just right in proportion, the scientists can see that the iron becomes almost transparent for https://www.mollybcurr.online/ the X-ray light.