PanamaTimes

Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Chinese-led team claims physics breakthrough

Chinese-led team claims physics breakthrough

Generation of powerful electron beam could could rewrite Einstein theory on photoelectric effect.
A Chinese-led research team has generated powerful electron beams with unprecedented efficiency, a scientific breakthrough that could rewrite Albert Einstein's Nobel Prize winning theory, according to a new paper.

In March 1905, Einstein published a paper explaining the photoelectric effect. When light falls on specific material, electrons might be emitted from its surface. This phenomenon has helped humans understand the quantum nature of light and electrons.

A century passed and the theory became a foundation for many modern technologies that rely on light detection or electron-beam generation. High-energy electron beams have been widely used to analyse crystal structures, treat cancer, kill bacteria and machine alloy.

However, most of the materials that convert photons into electrons, known as photocathodes, were discovered about 60 years ago. All photocathodes a defect: the electrons they generate are dispersed in angle and speed.

By using a new material, He Ruihua, of Westlake University in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province, and his team overcame the defence and acquired concentrated electrons. The finding by researchers in China, Japan and the US could raise the energy level of an acquired electron-beam by at least an order of magnitude.

The team's paper was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on March 8.

They used strontium titanate (SrTiO3), a quantum material with myriad interesting properties. Electron beams obtained after exciting SrTiO3 generated electron beams with consistency - also called coherence.

"Coherence is important to the beam, it concentrates the flow like a pipe on the tap. Without the pipe, water will spray everywhere when the tap is wide open. Without coherence, electrons will scatter," said Hong Caiyun, an author of the paper.

"With the coherence we acquired, we can increase the beam intensity while the beam could maintain its direction."

The photoemission intensity of SrTiO3 is greatly enhanced.

"This exceptional performance suggests novel physics beyond the well-established theoretical framework for photoemission," Hong said.

The discovery has driven the team to find a new theory to explain the unparalleled coherence.

"We came up with an explanation as a supplement to Einstein's original theoretical framework. It's in another paper which is under review right now," Professor He said.

Co-author Arun Bansil of Northeastern University in the US, hailed the finding in a Phys.org report.

"This is a big deal because there is no mechanism within our existing understanding of photoemission that can produce such an effect. In other words, we don't have any theory for this, currently, so it is a miraculous breakthrough in that sense," Bansil said.

According to Hong, the new theory predicts a host of materials with the same photoemissive properties as SrTiO3.

"SrTiO3 presents the first example of a fundamentally new class of photocathode quantum materials. It opens new prospects for applications that require intense electron beams," she said.

The research team did not respond, either in its paper or in interviews, to whether high-energy electron beams would be used in weapons.

Professor He said the discovery emerged from their focus on a traditional technology, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (Arpes). Arpes is widely used to study electron structures in solid materials. It measures the energy and emission angle of photoelectrons.

"In the past few decades, physics and material scientists mainly used Arpes to study the electronic structures related to the optical, electrical and thermal properties. Our team adapted an unconventional configuration of Arpes, and measured another part that's more related to the photoelectric effect," He said.

"During the test we found the unusual photoemission properties of SrTiO3. Previously, quantum oxide materials represented by strontium titanate were mainly studied as substitutes for semiconductors, and are currently used in the fields of electronics and photocatalysis.

"The material will definitely be promising in the field of photocathode in the future."

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
Oracle and OpenAI Plan $40 Billion Nvidia Chip Purchase for AI Data Center
×