Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have created a high-energy, ultrashort, ultrahigh current petawatt peak power electron beam in a particle accelerator. This will allow them to study the behavior of physical systems and chemical reactions with higher precision than ever before.
The beam is in the cutting-edge femtosecond (10-15 seconds) range of duration, which gives scientists the ability to see changes at truly small timescales. The ability to control the beam with an incredible degree of precision is key to the observations they intend to perform.
“Not only can we create such a powerful electron beam, but we’re also able to control the beam in ways that are customizable and on-demand, which means we can probe a much wider range of physical and chemical phenomena than ever before,” lead author Claudio Emma said in a statement.
Emma works on the SLAC’s Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET-II) that developed the beam. The researchers had to be ingenious to deliver such high-quality beams. The setup has already been used to study the way charged particles can “surf” over waves of plasma, and it might also be used to create the filaments seen in stars directly in the lab.
It could also be possible to use the beams created by the system to create attosecond light pulses, extremely brief flashes of light that can be used to study a whole other array of phenomena, even faster than the femtosecond ones. That’s like getting two different observing devices focusing on different scales for the price of one.
“If you have the beam as a fast camera, then you also have a light pulse that’s very short, and now suddenly you have two complementary probes,” Emma explained. “That’s a unique capability and we can do a lot of things with that.”
The team can’t wait for the new discoveries this beam might bring.
“We have a really exciting and interesting facility at FACET-II where people can come and do their experiments,” he said. “If you need an extreme beam, we have the tool for you, and let’s work together.”
A paper describing the achievement of this beam is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Source Link: Most Intense Ultra Short Electron Beam Of Its Kind On Earth Fired At SLAC Lab
