China to invest ¥4.8b in world’s most powerful synchrotron light source
Sprawling facility to explore properties of all sorts of matter under brilliant beams of light for applications ranging from medicine to new materials and defence
China will invest 4.8 billion yuan (HK$5.4 billion) to build the world’s brightest synchrotron light source, state broadcaster CCTV reports.
A synchrotron is a source of brilliant light that scientists use to explore the structural and chemical properties of materials at the molecular level, according to the website of the Canadian Light Source synchrotron.
A synchrotron produces light by using radio frequency waves and powerful electromagnets to accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light. Energy is added to the electrons as they accelerate so that, when the magnets alter their course, they naturally emit a very brilliant, highly focused light.
Different spectra of light such as infrared, ultraviolet, and X-rays, are directed down beamlines where researchers choose the desired wavelength to study their samples.
The researchers observe the interaction between the light and matter in their sample. The technology can probe matter and analyse a host of physical, chemical, geological, and biological processes.