A "mini" particle accelerator was created to power a laser

The prototype of a Chinese group is just 12 meters long, compared to the kilometers of the most important specimens. It will be used for research in fields ranging from physics to medicine

(image: Siom) From tens of kilometers to a few meters. A Chinese team from the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (Siom) has managed to create a "mini" particle accelerator (measuring only 12 meters) capable of powering a type of laser called a free electron laser (Fel). By "miniaturizing" not only the size but also the construction costs, this new tool represents for the experts a very significant step forward in the direction of the diffusion of the technology on a larger scale, for research and medical applications.

Wakefield accelerator

As the Chinese researchers explain from the pages of Nature, they used the principles of plasma wakefield accelerators to accelerate particles over short distances. They directed laser pulses against helium gas to tear electrons from atoms and generate very strong electric fields, stronger than those generated by microwaves in classic kilometer-long accelerators, thus being able to accelerate electrons within a few meters.

One of the problems with this technology is that not all electrons have the same energy, which can vary by a few percent. Too much to guarantee practical applications. The Chinese team, however, managed to optimize it: it reduced the diffusion of electron energy and controlled its acceleration, improving the power of the instrument and allowing it to power a free electron laser (Fel).

Free electron laser

Put simply, the light radiation of a Fel is generated by a beam of electrons accelerated at relativistic speeds which, passing through magnetic undulators, are " shaken "and emit light.

What they have created in Shanghai is a Fel only 12 meters long, tiny compared to its" big brothers ". Suffice it to say that the Linac Coherent Light Source presented in 2009 at the Slac National Accelerator Laboratory is a Fel powered by a linear particle accelerator 3 kilometers long. However, its performances are also very different: the laser pulses produced are weaker, with a longer wavelength (they emit in the ultraviolet and not in X-rays) and they can only produce 5 per second (the Fel of Slac is is updating to be able to produce millions per second).

According to the scientific community, however, the results achieved by the Siom mini Fel are truly impressive. The aim of the Chinese researchers is to continue working on the instrument to arrive at a miniature X-ray Fel, which can in the future be used, for example, to detect the internal structure of matter in various fields, from physics to medicine. .


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Quantum mechanical physics globalData.fldTopic = "Physics, quantum mechanics"

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