Modern atomic clocks and our knowledge of fundamental physical constants both depend on precise measurements of the radiation emitted by atoms or molecules. Such high-resolution spectroscopy is made possible by the frequency comb laser, which generates an array — or comb — of photons at regular, finely spaced and well defined frequencies.
Kjeld Eikema and his colleagues at the Free University of Amsterdam have, for the first time, performed spectroscopy experiments with a frequency comb laser in the extreme ultraviolet region of the spectrum, down to wavelengths of 51 nanometres — beating the previous record of 125 nanometres. The results might be extended to create X-ray combs, and could also be used to make precision tests of the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the researchers say.
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Spectroscopy: Ultraviolet combs. Nature 466, 798 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/466798c
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/466798c