Moore Foundation grantee, Joel England, a fellow at the Advanced Accelerator Research Department at SLAC and one of the leaders of the foundation-funded Accelerator-on-a-Chip project, recently spoke with IEEE Spectrum about the potential of shrinking the linear particle accelerator and the converging technologies that might make it happen.
Accelerators are used to test fundamental physics. But they also produce high-intensity X-rays that led to discoveries in many other basic science fields, as well as being employed in medicine to fight cancer. As IEEE reports: “the aim is to use lasers and a piece of nanostructured silicon or glass about the size of a grain of rice to accelerate electrons at a rate 10 times higher than conventional technology can. The resulting technology could potentially match the power of SLAC’s 3.2-kilometer-long linear accelerator in as little as 30 meters.”
The benefits of shrinking a particle accelerator could be endless. First, there is the cost savings. Making the accelerator chip scale could reduce manufacturing costs dramatically and allow for rapid, large-scale production. Second, a smaller accelerator can be transported, opening up potential uses in even more settings.
Read the full article from IEEE Spectrum here.
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