Scientists find a way to hike X-ray power
Posted on: Monday, 22 June 2009, 09:02 CDT
U.S. and Russian scientists say they have developed a technology that can create coherent, high-powered X-rays.
Scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russia's Voronezh State University said their achievement moves three-dimensional, real-time X-ray imaging closer to reality.
University of Nebraska Professor Anthony Starace said the new technology could be a contributor to a number of innovations.
Starace's work focuses on a process called high-harmonic generation. The HHG process, in which energetic X-ray radiation is created by focusing an optical laser into atoms of gaseous elements, has been used since 1988. However, HHG has one major problem: the X-ray light produced by the atoms is very weak.
But Starace's group solved the problem by applying HHG theory to heavier gaseous atoms having many electrons – elements such as xenon, argon and krypton. They discovered the process would unleash high-energy X-rays with relatively high intensity.
Starace said the achievement could lead one day to more powerful and precise X-ray machines. For instance, he said, heart doctors might conduct an exam by scanning a patient and creating a 3D hologram of that patient's heart beating in real time.
The research is to be reported in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Source: United Press International
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