Knowing that, the Toronto group used a magnetic field to form their barrier. The amount of rotation (also called precession) depends on how long the particle is bathed in that magnetic field. Subatomic particles all have magnetic properties and when magnets are in an external magnetic field, they rotate like a spinning top. ![]() To simplify the methodology, the researchers used magnets to create a new kind of "clock" that would tick only while the particle was tunneling. One of the difficulties in earlier versions of this type of experiment is identifying the moment tunneling starts and stops. Researchers had previously tried to measure the amount of time it takes for tunneling to occur, with varying results. Indeed, some researchers thought that the particle appears instantaneously on the other side of the barrier as if it instantaneously teleported there, reported. While the laws of quantum mechanics allow for quantum tunneling, researchers still don't know exactly what happens while a subatomic particle is undergoing the tunneling process. Shortly after the first STM was invented, researchers at IBM reported using the device to spell out the letters IBM using 35 xenon atoms on a nickel substrate. Scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) also use tunneling to literally show individual atoms on the surface of a solid. ![]() It forms the basis of many modern technologies such as electronic chips, called tunnel diodes, which allow for the movement of electricity through a circuit in one direction but not the other. ![]() Quantum tunneling is not new to physicists.
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