Researchers build a particle accelerator that fits on a chip

Sanford engineers have helped create what may be the next big thing in particle accelerators – and it fits on a fingertip. This “accelerator on a chip” was reported September 27th in the journal Nature.

Accelerators energize charged particles to accomplish a range of tasks from generating x-rays for medical imaging systems to unraveling the mysteries of matter. They use electromagnetic waves to boost the energy of particles. Many conventional accelerators employ microwave radiation and bulky copper tubing to generate a wavy electric field. Particles surf these finely tuned waves, hitting swell after swell, and accelerating to higher and higher energies.

One of the ways the new device miniaturizes this process is by using a series of nanoscopic ravines etched into the chip by researchers at the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF). The SNF is a shared facility that provides researchers access to clean rooms and equipment to design, create, and characterize micro- and nano-scale devices.

Read more at  Stanford University

Image Credit: Neil Sapra

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