Researchers from the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) (a joint institute of the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology), KMLabs Inc. in Boulder, CO, and 3M Center in St. Paul, MN, have developed a novel microscope that makes examining ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors – which have a relatively large energy gap between the valence and conduction bands – possible on an unprecedented scale. The microscope uses high-energy deep ultraviolet laser light to create a nanoscale interference pattern on the material's surface, heating it in a controlled, periodic pattern. Observing how this pattern fades over time provides insights into the electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties at spatial resolutions as fine as 287 nanometers, well below the wavelength of visible light.
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