The photoelectric effect is a phenomenon where light knocks electrons out of a material, resulting in the emission of these electrons, called photoelectrons. Albert Einstein explained the ...

In 1905, Albert Einstein showed that the photoelectric effect—the ability of metals to produce an electric current when exposed to light—could be explained if light is quantum, traveling in discrete ...

However, with wavelengths of only 13 nanometers and high radiation intensities of several petawatt per square centimeter something else – at least with some atoms – happens: With xenon, a whole ...

When light hits a material, electrons can be released from this material -- the photoelectric effect. Although this effect played a major role in the development of the quantum theory, it still holds ...

In a flash: artist's impression of the photoelectric effect. (Courtesy: Technical University of Vienna) Just 45 quintillionth of a second (45 attoseconds) is all it takes for a photon to liberate an ...

When Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921, he was immediately thrown in to the spotlight of the scientific world, and which has stayed on him for nearly 100 years. He won it for his ...

According to quantum mechanics, our universe is like a Lego set. All matter particles, as well as particles such as light that act as messengers between them, come in discrete blocks of energy. By ...

For his monumental work in transforming our understanding of gravity and spacetime, Albert Einstein won his sole Nobel Prize for something else: explaining the photoelectric effect. In the early 20th ...

The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons when electromagnetic radiation, such as light, hits a material. Electrons emitted in this manner are called photoelectrons. The phenomenon is ...

For the first time, researchers have been able to measure the quantum state of electrons ejected from atoms that have absorbed high-energy light pulses. This is thanks to a new measurement technique ...