Oxford University scientists create transparent aluminium

OXFORD University researchers have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. According the scientists, a short pulse from the FLASH laser dislodged a core electron from every aluminium atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. The aluminium piece became nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation. According to Oxford University’s Professor Justin Wark, this is a completely new state of matter, and could lead to further discoveries regarding nuclear fusion and conditions inside large planets. The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a city power plant. The Oxford scientists focused this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminium turned transparent, albeit extremely briefly.