Monday, January 22, 2007

A Neutral, Molecular Synchrotron

Another cool invention. Physicists in Germany has managed for the first time to produce a neutral particle synchrotron[1]!

A synchrotron is usually a circular storage ring where charged particles, usually electrons, moves around in circles close to the speed of light. They are accelerated by a combination of electric (RF) fields and using magnetic fields to steer and focus. In this new invention, polar molecules such ammonia, have been accelerated in a rather small ring, 81 cm in circumference.

Again, a very interesting work that promises to open up a whole world of possibilities. The abstract for this work can be found here.

Zz.

[1] C.E. Heiner, et al., Nature Physics Published online: 21 January 2007 | doi:10.1038/nphys513

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