'Supermicroscope' shrunk down to lab-size
Oct 2, 2009 6 comments
Physicists in the UK and Germany have created a powerful yet highly compact X-ray source, which they claim could come to replace
'Supermicroscope' shrunk down to lab-size
Oct 2, 2009 6 comments
Physicists in the UK and Germany have created a powerful yet highly compact X-ray source, which they claim could come to replace some of the world's major research facilities.
X-ray beams have become a valuable tool for scientists because they can "see" deep inside matter, illuminating its internal structure at the atomic scale. Indeed, the technique is now applied across a wide range of science, from revealing the structure of viruses to tracking chemical reactions as they happen.
As scientists have begun to realize the full potential of X-rays, they have come to require much more advanced X-ray sources than those available at their academic institutions. This has led to the formation of a number of specialist facilities that provide the international research community with a centralized source of high-quality X-rays.
Shake it like a synchrotron
These centres, like ESRF in France and Diamond Light Source in the UK, generate X-rays as a form of "synchrotron" radiation. In the standard process, high-energy beams of charged particles are accelerated using electric and magnetic fields around loops that can be hundreds of metres in size. As the particles veer around the circle, they constantly shed energy in the form of X-rays tangential to the beamline.
In most modern synchrotrons, the particles are also passed through a periodic magnetic structure, known as an undulator, which forces the electrons to "wiggle" and emit X-rays each they change direction.
While these synchrotron facilities have proved very popular and provide researchers with an opportunity to mix with their international peers, they are not without their critics. Some feel that the high set-up and running costs are unnecessary, and it is notoriously difficult to provide all resea