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Quantum tunnelling of electrons brings ultrafast optical microscopy to the atomic scale

The oscillating electromagnetic fields that carry light can cause electrons to tunnel back and forth through a potential energy barrier. Remarkably, this alternating current can coherently emit measurable light waves — an unexpected process that can be exploited to build an optical microscope that undercuts existing spatial and temporal limitations.

This is a summary of: Siday, T. et al. All-optical subcycle microscopy on atomic length scales. Nature 629, 329–334 (2024).

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01294-z

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