Saw Wai Hla, a physics professor at Ohio University, has won the Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year Award for his research in quantum physics. After at least twelve years of searching for a way to observe the fundamental properties of an atom, Hla was finally able to detect just one atom using an X-ray.
The Falling Walls Foundationstarted in 2009 and acts as a “global hub, connecting science, business and society” with the intent to spread ideas and better humankind. Every year, they award breakthroughs in eight different categories, which were announced Wednesday. The laureates will be celebrated at the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin from Nov. 7-9 and will have the opportunity to present their work to an audience.
Hla is a physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, where he made his discovery. He is also the director of the Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute and researches atomic and molecular manipulation on material surfaces and synchrotron X-ray studies of individual atoms.
Hla described his job as, “pushing the boundary.”
Before this discovery, synchrotron X-rays were known to only be able to detect about 10,000 atoms at a time, or an attogram, which equates to one billionth of a billionth of a gram. There are other methods to detect single atoms, like using an ion trap or a microscope. However, those methods don’t allow scientists to understand the properties of a material and therefore identify which element it is.
Hla’s goal was to be able to tell the exact chemical makeup of a single atom by scanning it.
“This is a long-standing goal of many scientists, to get to the ultimate limit,” Hla said.
Hla and his team were able to accomplish this using a technique called synchrotron x-ray scanning tunneling microscopy, or SX-STM, which involves a probe brought very close to a sample surface to detect electrons flowing between the probe and the surface of the sample, or the fingerprint. •Sineth Premarathna, an OU alumni who graduated with his PhD last year, assisted Hla during this research.
“When you are doing this XY raw scan, you actually end up seeing very, very tiny features on the surface,” Permarathna said. “We can even see atoms because it is that sensitive.”
According to Hla, scientists all over the world have theorized it was possible to detect just one atom with x-rays, and have demonstrated SX-STM works on a small sample of atoms. The SX-STM method was patentedby Hla, as well as Volker Rose, Curt A. Preissner, Kangkang Wang and Daniel Rosenmann.
Eric Masson, College of Arts and Sciences Roenigk Chair and professor of chemistry, designed the atoms used in Hla’s experiments, with the intention of detecting a terbium atom.
“The idea is to have something around the metal to shield it, and then that whole thing, once it goes into Saw Hla’s hands, is being vaporized, and the molecule then drops on the gold surface,” he said.
Hla said this research and accomplishment can lead to many more discoveries. Although society will not feel the effects immediately, gradually, it will change the world for the better.
“It’s like when computers were first invented,” Hla said. “That was a long time ago, but now they’re everywhere.”
Hla specializes in rare-earth metals, which are found in many high-tech devices, like phones and HD TVs. Some of these materials are toxic and damaging to the environment, like tin and lead. Now that he can detect a single atom he hopes to be able to alter those rare-earth materials for more efficient energy and environmentally friendly applications.
“Imagine that every single molecule could behave as energy stored,” Masson said, explaining that this discovery would greatly reduce the amount of material needed for one device.
Hla wasn’t the only scientist working on this project. Reaching this goal took the effort of many researchers. They developed the methods and technology to make it possible. Not everybody was studying the single iron or terbium atoms that were detected at the time.
“We have made small breakthroughs on the way,” Hla said in reference to the steps it took toward breaking the barrier.
At the time they got the reading of the single atom, Hla and Michael Ayaji, a PhD student at the time, were the only people in the room. Hla was sustained on joy, barely needing to sleep or eat in the days following his accomplishment.
“My happiness did not stop,” Hla said.
Looking forward, Sinneth gave advice to all upcoming researchers and scientists.
“Never stop dreaming,” Sinneth said. “You have to keep pushing and keep doing what you’re doing correctly, and you will be rewarded someday, for sure.”
