back to article ATOM SMASHER ON A CHIP technology demonstrated

Stanford uni scientists have created a particle accelerator on a chip smaller than a grain of rice (albeit one that won't actually accelerate particles). The details are in heavyweight boffinry mag Nature, in a paper titled Demonstration of electron acceleration in a laser-driven dielectric microstructure. Particle …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Brilliant method there to put a particle accelerator on a chip!

  2. Evil Auditor Silver badge
    Joke

    We used to have particle accelerators in our living room and office. Then they were replaced with flat screens.

  3. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

    Cut it some SLAC

    > First, you must get the electrons up to speed and then ramp up their energy using electric fields and a precisely engineered tube of ridges

    That is because after a "suitably high" energy, the speed doesn't change much because of "that speed limit".

    This wouldn't make an "atom smasher" either (no hadrons), but if you add:

    1) An antielectron source

    2) The calorimeters and other detector stuff

    you might get a Small Electron-Positron Collider or a Small SLAC which can be fun.

  4. Ralph B
    Joke

    CERN@Home

    Should be a Kickstarter project.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well, that cool

    So what is next? I vote for a micro-fusion reactor. Any seconds?

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: Well, that cool

      A time-machine microwave? Get me John Titor on the horn!

      1. James Micallef Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: Well, that cool

        "A time-machine microwave?"

        Is that to reheat tomorrow's leftovers?

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          A Little Something for Us Tempunauts

          Nicely done. "preheat" in that case, though.

    2. Mage Silver badge

      Re: Well, that cool

      Yes, the ultimate non-replaceable phone "battery" you won't worry about replacing. A power source that lasts for 5 years screen time would be good.

      Why does a Smart phone battery go flat quickly? Screen is 80% of power consumption.

      I wonder what you could do with a large 2D array of these "rice grain" accelerators?

  6. Sporkinum

    x-ray generator on a roll

    http://www.technologyreview.com/view/411085/x-rays-made-with-scotch-tape/

  7. LazyLazyman

    DARPA

    "more practical applications are portable x-ray generators, including those suitable for medical imaging, which is why everybody's favourite crazy-tech-funder DARPA is prominent on the list of backers"

    Or is it just a cover for an XRAY GUN!!!!!

    1. Trollslayer

      Re: DARPA

      No, that would be a tartan blanket.

  8. David Pollard

    Ho ho

    Is this to go with the matchstick-sized directional microphone that was announced the other day?

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929364.400-matchsticksized-sensor-can-record-your-private-chats.html

  9. M Gale

    Ghostbusters backpacks for real?

    Just remember to not cross the streams.

  10. Ramiro
    Boffin

    X-Ray generators

    Fun as that would be, the more practical applications are portable x-ray generators,

    How could portable x-ray generators be "not fun"?

    You lack imagination...

  11. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Thumb Up

    So kind of a Smith Purcell generator in *reverse*

    Neat.

    Except here we fire the electrons below the grating (or at least in between 2 gratings).

    Let's factor this is a 100x more intense field strength than conventional accelerators.

    That puts a similar capacity to existing accelerators 1/100 the size of existing ones.

  12. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

    So, wait...we are on the cusp of having portable devices that can accelerate particles to relativistic velocities? Am I the only one thinking

    A) Particle-beam weapon (assuming you lase a channel in the atmosphere first)

    B) This, if they don't lase a channel...

  13. ecofeco Silver badge

    Incredbile

    Congratulations to the scientists who developed this. A truly incredible advancement.

    Amazing science and technology are being developed these days. Now if we could just make the same strides in human psychology. Specifically, ridding the world of "dangerous crazy".

    1. Rattus Rattus

      Re: Incredbile

      Then who would Americans vote for?

      (Actually, that goes for the rest of us too.)

  14. The elephant in the room
    Boffin

    Integrate with Google Glass and...

    ...X-ray spex!

    1. Richard 23

      Moulded in Poly Styrene?

      R.I.P.

  15. DocJD

    There is already an X-Ray source the size of a grain of rice. I worked on it about 10 years ago. Check out a company called Xoft to see what it can do.

  16. Measurer

    Whoops, the yanks just ran out of wonga, the bailiffs have seized it.

  17. Zetribe

    DeLameters

    A pair of custom hand DeLameters for me please.

  18. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Go

    Now I wonder if this works with Protons as well.

    Trickier to get a source but if so you can now accelerate Electrons and Protons, which can give Neutrons.

    Obvious uses. High efficiency compact X ray sources. IE 10-20x better than conventional X-ray tubes.

    But the big one is desktop fusion.

    Just a thought.

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