Innovative technique reveals that leaping atoms remember where they have been

Up to now, this has been extremely challenging to observe because such an effect is unnoticeable by simple observation. To test whether ion movement has a memory, something unusual must be introduced: disturb the system, and then watch how the disturbance dies down. But for watching atoms flow, the rock in our study must be a pulse of light. In order to capture this, the team used a technique called pump-probe spectroscopy, using rapid, intense pulses of light to both trigger and measure the ions’ movement. However, the findings have implications for all technologies in which atoms flow or move, whether in solids or in fluids, including neuromorphic computing, desalination, and others.