Individual gamma rays

2014/03/31 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika
• Teknologia

Individual photon emission technology has taken a step forward thanks to the work of physicists at the A&M University of Texas, who can now also emit gamma rays individually. They are very high energy photons that are generated in nature in very few processes, but this new technique allows its artificial creation in a controlled way.

Physicists have used cobalt 57, a radioactive isotope that actually emits gamma rays, and have developed a system to control their radiation. For this purpose, the nuclei of iron atoms must absorb the radiation and reissue it, forming a pulse of a single photon. The iron atom is interspersed between the cobalt and the final emission, obtaining control through a process similar to fluorescence. But there is a difference: fluorescence is due to the electrons jumps of several atoms, while in the case of gamma rays the effect occurs in the nucleus of the iron atom.

Gamma rays could replace visible light in many technologies. Fiber optic quantum communication would be more effective using gamma rays, for example, because the higher the energy is more easily detectable and focused. In addition, other technologies such as Mössbauer spectroscopic are essential for gamma rays. At present, photons of different energy levels are sent simultaneously to the sample object of study, in order to also exist gamma rays, but the new technique will allow to use radiation of simple gamma ray.