For the First Time, Scientists Have Fired Up the World's Smallest Particle Accelerators (space.com) 26
"Scientists recently fired up the world's smallest particle accelerator for the first time," reports Space.com.
"The tiny technological triumph, which is around the size of a small coin, could open the door to a wide range of applications, including using the teensy particle accelerators inside human patients." The new machine, known as a nanophotonic electron accelerator (NEA), consists of a small microchip that houses an even smaller vacuum tube made up of thousands of individual "pillars." Researchers can accelerate electrons by firing mini laser beams at these pillars. The main acceleration tube is approximately 0.02 inches (0.5 millimeter) long, which is 54 million times shorter than the 16.8-mile-long (27 kilometers) ring that makes up CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland — the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator... The inside of the tiny tunnel is only around 225 nanometers wide. For context, human hairs are 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers thick, according to the National Nanotechnology Institute.
In a new study, published Oct. 18 in the journal Nature, researchers from the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) in Germany used the tiny contraption to accelerate electrons from an energy value of 28.4âkiloelectron volts to 40.7âkeV, which is an increase of around 43%. It is the first time that a nanophotonic electron accelerator, which was first proposed in 2015, has been successfully fired, the researchers wrote in a statement...
"For the first time, we really can speak about a particle accelerator on a [micro]chip," study co-author Roy Shiloh, a physicist at FAU, said in the statement.
What they accomplished "was demonstrated almost simultaneously by colleagues at Stanford University," according to the researchers' statement. "Their results are currently under review, but can be viewed on a repository. The two teams are working together on the realization of the 'Accelerator on a chip' in a project funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation" in 2015.
"The tiny technological triumph, which is around the size of a small coin, could open the door to a wide range of applications, including using the teensy particle accelerators inside human patients." The new machine, known as a nanophotonic electron accelerator (NEA), consists of a small microchip that houses an even smaller vacuum tube made up of thousands of individual "pillars." Researchers can accelerate electrons by firing mini laser beams at these pillars. The main acceleration tube is approximately 0.02 inches (0.5 millimeter) long, which is 54 million times shorter than the 16.8-mile-long (27 kilometers) ring that makes up CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland — the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator... The inside of the tiny tunnel is only around 225 nanometers wide. For context, human hairs are 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers thick, according to the National Nanotechnology Institute.
In a new study, published Oct. 18 in the journal Nature, researchers from the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) in Germany used the tiny contraption to accelerate electrons from an energy value of 28.4âkiloelectron volts to 40.7âkeV, which is an increase of around 43%. It is the first time that a nanophotonic electron accelerator, which was first proposed in 2015, has been successfully fired, the researchers wrote in a statement...
"For the first time, we really can speak about a particle accelerator on a [micro]chip," study co-author Roy Shiloh, a physicist at FAU, said in the statement.
What they accomplished "was demonstrated almost simultaneously by colleagues at Stanford University," according to the researchers' statement. "Their results are currently under review, but can be viewed on a repository. The two teams are working together on the realization of the 'Accelerator on a chip' in a project funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation" in 2015.
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No the original can't be the smallest because there weren't any to compare it with. The definition of small is "of a size that is less than normal or usual". This could be the second or even third particle accelerator of a smaller size of the original.
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We have other particle accelerators and this one is the smallest of them. Others being smaller than the original but larger than this one means nothing as far as smallest goes.
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When there’s only one its size is normal.
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A normal electron is still very small
So is a parallel one /s
But accelerate that little e- and watch it get even smaller whilst simultaneously getting more massive.
Re: No English major need apply (Score:2)
Indeed, the first one fired up will always be the first one to be the smallest.
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A black-hole in every garage (Score:3)
...maybe it's the only counter to a nuke in every garage.
Use Case: Cancer - Targeted Radiation Therapy (Score:5, Informative)
The headline mentioned putting it inside a human body, but never bothered to mention why (I figured just for the heck of it...).
Here's a use case for it.
"The potential of the NEA in targeted cancer radiation therapy is particularly promising. The compact nature of the accelerator opens up the possibility of placing it inside an endoscope, allowing for direct administration of radiation to the affected area within the body. This approach would not only ensure greater precision in targeting cancer cells, but also reduce the side effects associated with current methods of radiation delivery."
https://metroamericas.com/en/n... [metroamericas.com]
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The tiniest gun to shoot at the smallest targets
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Thankyou. Comparing it to the LHC may be the dumbest possible comparison. With the purpose of the LHC being science it benefits greatly from its size. The goal of such accelerators it to be larger not smaller in order to create more energy.
It should be compared to actual beam radiation therapy equipment.
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"That may be no bad thing, given the main goal of creating these accelerators is to utilize the energy given off by the accelerated electrons in targeted medical treatments that can replace more damaging forms of radiotherapy, which is used to kill cancer cells.
"The dream application would be to place a particle accelerator on an endoscope in order to be able to administer radiotherapy directly at the affected area within the body," study lead author Tomá Chlouba, a physicist at FAU, wrote in the statement. But this is still a long way off, he added.
Of all the smallest particle accelerators (Score:3)
These are by far the most recent.
Practical uses (Score:2)
Scientists Have Fired Up the World's Smallest Particle Accelerators
I'm betting scientists just did this so they wouldn't have to use the old "smallest violin playing just for you" [urbandictionary.com] bit with people whinging about stuff. :-)
well you know what they say about size... (Score:2)
it's not always about size, it's how you use it... have they figured out how to use it yet?
May I suggest....
You get your particle accelerator
You get your particle accelerator
You get your particle accelerator
You get your particle accelerator
2 words, light sabers everyone, laser tags is for wussies .... [woble woble sound], Pew, Pew Pew, this is gonna be fun
Compare with LHC (Score:4, Interesting)
Its an interesting bit of technology that people have been working on for decades. The goal is for a ultra-compact source, not high total energy and it may be the most compact way to generate beams of this energy.
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Perfect for mounting on sharks
(Sorry, I just could not resist)
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Detractors of these... (Score:2)
I wonder how Dr. Angela Brown and Captain Vaughn Singleton feel about these things being ubiquitous in dozens or hundreds of labs across the world?
Can I open a black hole with it? (Score:2)
Or do any other real cool things with it?
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Black hole functionality is only available on the RC (Resonance Cascade) version of the chip.
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no but you can open venture capitalist wallets with a startup based on it if you make up some compelling enough sounding bullshit. And you don't even need to buy the chip, just make stage prop with blinky lights
the smallest particle accelerator (Score:2)
Useful for accelerating the smallest particles (like electrons and positrons).
If you want to accelerate protons, use the LHC
The first was also the smallest (Score:1)
Fun fact. The first cyclotron was also the world's smallest!