Particle Accelerator On A Chip Built By Laser: Could Lead To Cost-And-Space-Saving For Science And Medicine

Particle accelerator on a chip has been built by the use of a laser by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

This department has built a particle accelerator on a tiny chip. It is smaller than a grain of rice, according to Science Record. In order to get it to work, a laser was used to speed up electrons at a rate 10 times faster than conventional technology.

The department said that the particle accelerator on a chip could eventually lead to cost- and space-saving devices for science and medicine.

"We still have a number of challenges before this technology becomes practical for real-world use, but eventually it would substantially reduce the size and cost of future high-energy particle colliders for exploring the world of fundamental particles and forces," Joel England, an SLAC physicist told the Science Record. "It could also help enable compact accelerators and X-ray devices for security scanning, medical therapy and imaging, and research in biology and materials science."

According to a news release from the DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the initial trial achieved an acceleration gradient of 300 million electronvolts per meter, which is about 10 times the acceleration delivered by the two-mile-long linear accelerator.

"Our ultimate goal for this structure is one billion electronvolts per meter, and we're already one-third of the way in our first experiment," Robert Byer of Stanford University said.

In order to perfect the particle accelerator on the tiny glass, electrons are first accelerated to near light-speed, according to their research. Then the electrons are focused into a tiny, half-micron-high channel within a fused silica glass chip just half a millimeter long. Infrared laser light shining on the pattern generates electrical fields that interface with the electrons in the channel to increase their energy.