Researchers watch polarons form for the first time

Researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University used an x-ray laser to watch and directly measure the formation of polarons for the very first time. Polarons are distortions in the atomic lattice in a material that forms around a moving electron in a few trillionths of a second and then disappear quickly. Despite their short duration, they do affect a material's behavior. They could be why solar panels made with lead hybrid perovskites can reach high efficiencies in the lab.