An active prototype of a microparticle accelerator module with a length of 1.5 cm has been created
Welcome to the iCover Blog Pages ! It is hard to believe, but a device with a length of 1.5 cm and a thickness of 1 mm can really act as a module of an accelerator of microparticles in the terahertz range We will describe what a miniature accelerator is and what prospects its application will open in our article.
To study the fundamental properties of particles at the subatomic level, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was created. But with all the grandeur of the plan and the opening prospects, it is difficult to apply the capabilities of the LHC, at least at this stage, in solving many practical issues that have accumulated in medicine, materials science, particle physics, creating X-ray lasers. Accelerators working in the range between infrared and microwave radiation of the electromagnetic spectrum could help answer them.
An international interdisciplinary team of scientists created the first prototype of a miniature modular particle accelerator that uses terahertz radiation instead of radio frequency waves. One active accelerator module has a length of only 1.5 cm and a thickness of 1 mm. Specialists from DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron), CFEL (Center for Free-Electron Laser Science), Massachusetts University of Technology and the Institute of Structure and Dynamics of Matter Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter.
Most existing linear wave accelerators operate with electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency range. So, for example, the PETRA III accelerator, 2.3 km long, created at DESY uses a frequency of 500 megahertz. Thanks to the use of wavelengths in the terahertz range with a period of less than a femtosecond, explains a member of the research group, Professor Franz Kartner, it was possible to reduce the overall size of the structure by more than 1000 times. The experimental XFEL of the terahertz range, consisting of separate accelerator modules, is expected to be less than a meter.
Free electron lasers (FEL) generate flashes of laser light, sending high speed electrons from the particle accelerator along a wave path, resulting in them emitting light every time they are deflected. Exactly the same principle will be used in the laser " European XFEL"being built today as part of an international project with DESY. It is reported that the total length of the object will exceed three kilometers.
" In proportion to the decrease in the length of the pulse, its peak power and activity will increase. These very short pulses will allow us to obtain new data on extremely fast chemical processes, such as those that take place in photosynthesis, "says Kertner.
To create a prototype, a special microscopic accelerator module was developed and used, operating in the terahertz radiation range. The electron gun participating in the experiment was created by the CFEL group under the guidance of Professor Dwayne Miller, a member of the Director of the Institute of Structure and Dynamics of Matter named after Max Planck. Electrons entering the accelerator are accelerated due to the energy of terahertz radiation waves resonating in the accelerator chamber.
The main achievement of the development at the current stage, according to scientists and designers, is a demonstration of the working capacity of the idea. “The 7 keV (kiloelectron-volt) energy gain we obtained as a result of acceleration can hardly be called a convincing achievement, but the experiment shows that the principle really works in practice,” explains CFEL co-author Arya Fallahi, who performed the theoretical calculations. “The results obtained and the theory confirm that we are able to achieve an accelerating gradient of up to one gigavolt per meter” ... This is more than ten times more than what the best operating accelerator modules are capable of.
The technology of a more advanced plasma accelerator, which is now at the experimental stage, will allow one to obtain even higher accelerations, but will require significantly more powerful lasers than those using the terahertz prototype.
Physicists are confident that terahertz technologies are of great interest from the point of view of linear accelerators of the future for use in particle physics, as a means of constructing compact X-ray lasers and as electron sources used in scientific research of material physics, medical equipment using X-rays and electronic radiation.
In the coming years, the CFEL team in Hamburg plans to build a compact, experimental free-electron laboratory X-ray laser (XFEL) using the principles of “terahertz” technology. Project support is provided at the level of the European Research Council.
Understanding the processes of photosynthesis, taking into account the data obtained, in turn, will open up the possibility of creating an effective artificial model of this process and finding ways to more efficiently convert solar energy and create new technologies for reducing CO2 emissions. In addition, researchers are interested in studying other important chemical reactions. As Kertner points out, "photosynthesis is just one example of the many possible catalytic processes that we would like to investigate." The compact XFEL accelerator can be used for advanced medical imaging as a more advanced x-ray source. ”
For more information about the studies of the joint group of scientists and the miniature terahertz accelerator, see the publication page.
Our other articles
To study the fundamental properties of particles at the subatomic level, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was created. But with all the grandeur of the plan and the opening prospects, it is difficult to apply the capabilities of the LHC, at least at this stage, in solving many practical issues that have accumulated in medicine, materials science, particle physics, creating X-ray lasers. Accelerators working in the range between infrared and microwave radiation of the electromagnetic spectrum could help answer them.
An international interdisciplinary team of scientists created the first prototype of a miniature modular particle accelerator that uses terahertz radiation instead of radio frequency waves. One active accelerator module has a length of only 1.5 cm and a thickness of 1 mm. Specialists from DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron), CFEL (Center for Free-Electron Laser Science), Massachusetts University of Technology and the Institute of Structure and Dynamics of Matter Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter.
Most existing linear wave accelerators operate with electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency range. So, for example, the PETRA III accelerator, 2.3 km long, created at DESY uses a frequency of 500 megahertz. Thanks to the use of wavelengths in the terahertz range with a period of less than a femtosecond, explains a member of the research group, Professor Franz Kartner, it was possible to reduce the overall size of the structure by more than 1000 times. The experimental XFEL of the terahertz range, consisting of separate accelerator modules, is expected to be less than a meter.
Free electron lasers (FEL) generate flashes of laser light, sending high speed electrons from the particle accelerator along a wave path, resulting in them emitting light every time they are deflected. Exactly the same principle will be used in the laser " European XFEL"being built today as part of an international project with DESY. It is reported that the total length of the object will exceed three kilometers.
" In proportion to the decrease in the length of the pulse, its peak power and activity will increase. These very short pulses will allow us to obtain new data on extremely fast chemical processes, such as those that take place in photosynthesis, "says Kertner.
To create a prototype, a special microscopic accelerator module was developed and used, operating in the terahertz radiation range. The electron gun participating in the experiment was created by the CFEL group under the guidance of Professor Dwayne Miller, a member of the Director of the Institute of Structure and Dynamics of Matter named after Max Planck. Electrons entering the accelerator are accelerated due to the energy of terahertz radiation waves resonating in the accelerator chamber.
The main achievement of the development at the current stage, according to scientists and designers, is a demonstration of the working capacity of the idea. “The 7 keV (kiloelectron-volt) energy gain we obtained as a result of acceleration can hardly be called a convincing achievement, but the experiment shows that the principle really works in practice,” explains CFEL co-author Arya Fallahi, who performed the theoretical calculations. “The results obtained and the theory confirm that we are able to achieve an accelerating gradient of up to one gigavolt per meter” ... This is more than ten times more than what the best operating accelerator modules are capable of.
The technology of a more advanced plasma accelerator, which is now at the experimental stage, will allow one to obtain even higher accelerations, but will require significantly more powerful lasers than those using the terahertz prototype.
Physicists are confident that terahertz technologies are of great interest from the point of view of linear accelerators of the future for use in particle physics, as a means of constructing compact X-ray lasers and as electron sources used in scientific research of material physics, medical equipment using X-rays and electronic radiation.
In the coming years, the CFEL team in Hamburg plans to build a compact, experimental free-electron laboratory X-ray laser (XFEL) using the principles of “terahertz” technology. Project support is provided at the level of the European Research Council.
Understanding the processes of photosynthesis, taking into account the data obtained, in turn, will open up the possibility of creating an effective artificial model of this process and finding ways to more efficiently convert solar energy and create new technologies for reducing CO2 emissions. In addition, researchers are interested in studying other important chemical reactions. As Kertner points out, "photosynthesis is just one example of the many possible catalytic processes that we would like to investigate." The compact XFEL accelerator can be used for advanced medical imaging as a more advanced x-ray source. ”
For more information about the studies of the joint group of scientists and the miniature terahertz accelerator, see the publication page.
Our other articles