Feature Articles

A technique called resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, or RIXS, is particularly suited for probing samples as thin as one atomic layer and material states that change very rapidly. With recent technological developments, researchers expect this technique to enable studies that were unthinkable only five years ago. This progress gave Mark Dean and three colleagues — Matteo Mitrano, Steven Johnston, and Young-June Kim — the impetus to chart where the field is going as a whole. So, they summarized the technique’s state of the art and how they expect the field to progress in a Perspective paper, recently published in Physical Review X.

Relying on leading-edge germanium detectors developed by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the scientific community pursues elusive nuclear processes to unlock persistent mysteries. Answers to questions they hope to resolve hold the potential to redefine the universe itself.