Engineers Garage

  • Electronic Projects & Tutorials
    • Electronic Projects
      • Arduino Projects
      • AVR
      • Raspberry pi
      • ESP8266
      • BeagleBone
      • 8051 Microcontroller
      • ARM
      • PIC Microcontroller
      • STM32
    • Tutorials
      • Audio Electronics
      • Battery Management
      • Brainwave
      • Electric Vehicles
      • EMI/EMC/RFI
      • Hardware Filters
      • IoT tutorials
      • Power Tutorials
      • Python
      • Sensors
      • USB
      • VHDL
    • Circuit Design
    • Project Videos
    • Components
  • Articles
    • Tech Articles
    • Insight
    • Invention Stories
    • How to
    • What Is
  • News
    • Electronic Product News
    • Business News
    • Company/Start-up News
    • DIY Reviews
    • Guest Post
  • Forums
    • EDABoard.com
    • Electro-Tech-Online
    • EG Forum Archive
  • DigiKey Store
    • Cables, Wires
    • Connectors, Interconnect
    • Discrete
    • Electromechanical
    • Embedded Computers
    • Enclosures, Hardware, Office
    • Integrated Circuits (ICs)
    • Isolators
    • LED/Optoelectronics
    • Passive
    • Power, Circuit Protection
    • Programmers
    • RF, Wireless
    • Semiconductors
    • Sensors, Transducers
    • Test Products
    • Tools
  • Learn
    • eBooks/Tech Tips
    • Design Guides
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Webinars & Digital Events
  • Resources
    • Digital Issues
    • EE Training Days
    • LEAP Awards
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • White Papers
    • Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
    • DesignFast
  • Guest Post Guidelines
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Possibility of measuring time without Using a Clock

By Parul Gupta February 9, 2017

When light illuminates on specific substances, it causes them to release electrons. This is known as ‘photoemission’ and it was introduced by Albert Einstein in 1905, winning him the Nobel Prize. But only in the last couple of years, with advancements in laser technology, have researchers been able to approach the incredibly short timescales of photoemission.

Scientists at EPFL have now illustrated a delay on one billionth of a second in photoemission by estimating the spin of photo emitted electrons without the requirement of ultrashort laser pulses. Photoemission has proven to be a vital procedure, forming a platform for cutting-edge spectroscopy methods that enable researchers to study the properties of electrons in a solid. One such property is spin, an intrinsic quantum property of particles that makes them look like as if they were revolving around their axis.

The extent to which this axis is aligned towards a specific direction is referred to as spin polarization, which is what gives some substances, like iron, magnetic properties. Although, there has been huge progress in using photoemission and spin polarization of photo-emitted electrons, the time scale wherein the entire procedure takes places have not been explored in great detail. The common assumption is that, once light extends the material, electrons are regularly emitted and excited. But more recent researches employing advanced laser technology have challenged this, revealing that there is actually a time delay on the scale of attoseconds.

Possibility of measuring time without Using a Clock

The laboratory of Hugo Dil at EPFL, with team members in Germany revealed that during photoemission, the spin polarization of emitted electrons can be linked to the attosecond time delays of photoemission. More significantly, they have revealed this without the requirement for any experimental time resolution or measurement essentially, without the requirement for a clock. For this, the researchers employed a sort of photoemission spectroscopy to estimate the spin of electrons photo-emitted from a crystal of copper.

“With lasers you can directly estimate the time delay between distinct procedures, but it is intricate to determine when a process starts – time zero,” says Mauro Fanciulli, a Ph. D student of Dil’s group and first author on the paper. “But in our study we estimate time indirectly, so we do not have that issue, we could access one of the smallest timescales ever estimated. The two methods – lasers and spin, are complementary, and together they can yield an entire novel realm of information.”

The information about the timescale of photoemission is comprised in the wave function of the emitted electrons. It is a quantum description of the probability of where any given electron can be identified at a given time. By employing SAPRES, the researchers were able to estimate the spin of the electrons, which in turn enabled them to access their wave function properties


Filed Under: News

 

Next Article

← Previous Article
Next Article →

Questions related to this article?
👉Ask and discuss on EDAboard.com and Electro-Tech-Online.com forums.



Tell Us What You Think!! Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

EE TECH TOOLBOX

“ee
Tech Toolbox: 5G Technology
This Tech Toolbox covers the basics of 5G technology plus a story about how engineers designed and built a prototype DSL router mostly from old cellphone parts. Download this first 5G/wired/wireless communications Tech Toolbox to learn more!

EE Learning Center

EE Learning Center
“engineers
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for EE professionals.

HAVE A QUESTION?

Have a technical question about an article or other engineering questions? Check out our engineering forums EDABoard.com and Electro-Tech-Online.com where you can get those questions asked and answered by your peers!


RSS EDABOARD.com Discussions

  • BF999 Input and output impedance
  • Control for DC motor
  • Industrial Relay Board Design for Motorcycle Use
  • Sendust vs Ferrite for SMPS
  • On/Off Slide Switch Reassembly Help

RSS Electro-Tech-Online.com Discussions

  • More fun with ws2812 this time XC8 and CLC
  • Wierd makita battery
  • I Wanna build a robot
  • using a RTC in SF basic
  • Is AI making embedded software developers more productive?

Featured – LoRa/LoRaWan Series

  • What is the LoRaWAN network and how does it work?
  • Understanding LoRa architecture: nodes, gateways, and servers
  • Revolutionizing RF: LoRa applications and advantages
  • How to build a LoRa gateway using Raspberry Pi
  • How LoRa enables long-range communication
  • How communication works between two LoRa end-node devices

Recent Articles

  • STMicroelectronics unveils SoC based on secure MCU
  • Nexperia’s 48 V ESD diodes support higher data rates with ultra-low capacitance design
  • Taoglas releases Patriot antenna with 18 integrated elements covering 600 to 6000 MHz
  • Amphenol RF introduces SMPM to SMPM assemblies on RG-178 cable
  • Infineon launches 3D magnetic sensors with ±50 mT to ±160 mT measurement ranges

EE ENGINEERING TRAINING DAYS

engineering

Submit a Guest Post

submit a guest post
Engineers Garage
  • Analog IC TIps
  • Connector Tips
  • Battery Power Tips
  • DesignFast
  • EDABoard Forums
  • EE World Online
  • Electro-Tech-Online Forums
  • EV Engineering
  • Microcontroller Tips
  • Power Electronic Tips
  • Sensor Tips
  • Test and Measurement Tips
  • 5G Technology World
  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy

Search Engineers Garage

  • Electronic Projects & Tutorials
    • Electronic Projects
      • Arduino Projects
      • AVR
      • Raspberry pi
      • ESP8266
      • BeagleBone
      • 8051 Microcontroller
      • ARM
      • PIC Microcontroller
      • STM32
    • Tutorials
      • Audio Electronics
      • Battery Management
      • Brainwave
      • Electric Vehicles
      • EMI/EMC/RFI
      • Hardware Filters
      • IoT tutorials
      • Power Tutorials
      • Python
      • Sensors
      • USB
      • VHDL
    • Circuit Design
    • Project Videos
    • Components
  • Articles
    • Tech Articles
    • Insight
    • Invention Stories
    • How to
    • What Is
  • News
    • Electronic Product News
    • Business News
    • Company/Start-up News
    • DIY Reviews
    • Guest Post
  • Forums
    • EDABoard.com
    • Electro-Tech-Online
    • EG Forum Archive
  • DigiKey Store
    • Cables, Wires
    • Connectors, Interconnect
    • Discrete
    • Electromechanical
    • Embedded Computers
    • Enclosures, Hardware, Office
    • Integrated Circuits (ICs)
    • Isolators
    • LED/Optoelectronics
    • Passive
    • Power, Circuit Protection
    • Programmers
    • RF, Wireless
    • Semiconductors
    • Sensors, Transducers
    • Test Products
    • Tools
  • Learn
    • eBooks/Tech Tips
    • Design Guides
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Toolboxes
    • Webinars & Digital Events
  • Resources
    • Digital Issues
    • EE Training Days
    • LEAP Awards
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • White Papers
    • Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
    • DesignFast
  • Guest Post Guidelines
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe