2006 Volume 5 Issue 3 Pages 153-158
We report here a novel method of visualization to record Born's probability densities in glass blocks by the use of a recently developed three-dimensional laser technique. Conventional visualization methods cannot simultaneously show all the characteristic features of an atomic orbital, whereas a real image in a glass block in the present study allows us to recognize both the shape of the orbital and its wave character, such as the existence of spherical, planar and/or conical nodes, at the same time. One can take this block in one's hands and observe it from an arbitrary direction, to gain clearly the whole image of probability density in it. To show a physical image of the behavior of an electron in an atom is profitable for the understanding of atomic orbitals. This method is the most appropriate to understand images of "the probability density".
