Science moves in mysterious ways. Who was actually wondering how long this process takes?
Einstein's Photoelectric Effect: The Time It Takes For An Electron To Be Released
“The length of time between photon absorption and electron emission is very difficult to measure because it is only a matter of attoseconds," explains Till Jahnke, the PhD-supervisor of Jonas Rist. This corresponds to just a few light oscillations. “It has so far been impossible to measure this duration directly, which is why we have now determined it indirectly." To this end the scientists used a COLTRIMS reaction microscope – a measuring device with which individual atoms and molecules can be studied in incredible detail."
Just to make it somewhat easier to comprehend the incomprehensible, an attosecond is one-millionth of a picosecond. And a picosecond is one-trillionth of a second.
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