Transparent Aluminum

a team of international scientists lead by researchers at the University of Oxford used Extremely high energy pulses of X-rays from Hamburg Germany's FLASH laser to create aluminum that was transparent to high energy ultraviolet radiation. The laser knocked out inner shell electrons.

and

'What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,' said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University's Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper. 'Transparent aluminium is just the start.'

Would that be added as a new element to the periodical table?

phoenix911

No, its a different state, not a different element. the way i see it.

While losing an electron is "novel' to my way of thinking, I thought it was number of protons in the atomic nucleus that makes an element an element. ie (Atomic number) Number of electrons (or lack of electrons in outer valence shell just explains reactivity.

But i'm an old pre QED guy. so don't beat me too hard if i'm all wet.

I'd love to hear someone elses response to your question

milo

Milo,

you started it............which brings up another question

its been awhile since phyiscal metalurgy, but does that effect the type of bonds on the base metal itself. or how does that apply.

There are (3) types.

1.) Metallic, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_bond

2.) Inionic - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionic_bond

3.) and CoValent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covalent_bond

a site more involved on these three bonds.

http://books.google.com/books?id=y1eTDQRdI2wC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=physical+metalurgy+types+of+bonds&source=bl&ots=Iyl3ac9uRq&sig=jQUYYEGUghKbvzc_NDqLiWp0-QI&hl=en&ei=b36AStSyAZK4NrHEuNkC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false

interesting outcome.

phoenix911

Hey, no food fight!

The missing electron did not change the crystal arrangement, so no the metallicbond type didn't change.

BUT

We could conjecture that a properly chosen target of a metalloid element could be changed into a metallic bond arrangement or vice versa withthis technique. I'm thinking Boron, silicon,carbon as candidates, Though a wiser alchemist than me would try to move gold back one place to platinum...

milo

""It'd be no good for sunscreen, eh?"

How about a really fast lens for a really small camera.

With a shutter speed of, "A femto second: 1.0 X10^-15th, or a millionbillionth of second)" you should be able to get some good pictures of lightning. Or light.

"Transparent" here, is not in the sense that you can see through it like glass, (although glass may have some aluminum in it's compound).

By any common sense, "Transparent" is a relative term. Bone (for example - as can be demonstrated in the doctor's office) - may be opaque to X-rays but not to Gamma rays - and both are photon rays.

The natural density of the element or compound in question, is bound to be transparent to a ray of particles having enough energy.

The technological and practical application of aluminum which is transparent to X-rays, is yet to be seen.

"A new state of matter" in this case, is more hype than fundamental physics

believe that was stated.

to create aluminum that was transparent to high energy ultraviolet radiation.

I look at it not so much as a glass window by as a window for military applications for being able to penetrated shielding on things like communications.

They are using Aluminium as the base material now, soon they will apply it to other materials.

More than likely Military minds have been on their drawing boards for years.

phoenix911

Actually, the xrays knocked out inner shell electrons allowing the material to be transparent to high energy ultraviolet light.

Haven't seen you around lately, welcome back.

milo

Aluminium is - 2,8,3 (electrons/orbit)

So if the inner most electron is shifted out it can not go tl second saturated orbit (8) so it has to go out to 3, changing its valency? And the required energy may never be able to make it stable.

And if it thrown out making it ionic, the instability may be even more?

Let us see whether it has any practical application or remains in-lab like the super heavy metals.

I remember watching a program on Discovery about a month back about Aluminium. There was section at end on transparent aluminium that has been developed for very high impact resistance like bullet proof transparent shield.

This what I got on net "Transparent aluminum armor (aluminum oxynitride – ALON) is being tested by the military as a lighter and stronger alternative to traditional materials. ALON is a ceramic compound with very high compressive strength and durability"

It is a new state of matter because they've created something like an empty shell of electrons. By knocking out the inner electrons you change how all the atoms bond together; along with solid, liquid, gas, plasma which are governed by pretty much the energy content of the atom, they have made a solid, but with a deficit of electrons. But really, a few femtoseconds! Interesting, but it will be a while before it has any type of particle use. Also, all the outer shell electrons will go cascading down emitting x-rays and high UV photons. Its like quickly removing a table full of dishes and saying 'look, the dishes are floating!' right before they go crashing to the floor. Most likely you'll find this 'state of mater' being used to do some basic science experiments testing some theory, electron vacuum or something.

Holy coolness...!

By using "extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city"... they were able (for a whopping 40 femtoseconds) to cause a spot 1/20th the diameter of a human hair to appear transparent to ultra-stupendously high-energy UV radiation ... "wow-ee-ka-zow-ee"!

I will be duly impressed [no, REALLY!] to see where THIS leads to. Really!

As with the discovery of sonoluminescence ... one reference here... perhaps the article simply isn't divulging sufficient information to impress me much, but it sounds like 'just-another-odd-shaped-galaxy', 953.827 quadrillion light years away... or, more appropriately, that with the next generation of FLASH laser, we'll be able (using the energy requirements of TEN cities) to make a spot that's as big as the head of a PIN become transparent to the same ultra-stupendously high-energy UV radiation...

Can anyone explain how this is NOT just a "fluke-phenomenon", please?

Really... ~ Regards-to-all

Re: your "prediction"...

yes, seems like they have made a rather remarkable discovery. Just as remarkable as this flexible ring-shaped thing in my desk drawer. If I pull on both ends, it becomes extremely elongated.

E x t r e m e l y.

and then, when I release my pulling force on it, it returns to its natural shape and size. AMAZING! (and it doesn't even require the energy of a single household, let alone an entire city...)

No one is safe now