From the study of works of art in museums to the control of customs containers, from the sterilization of surgical instruments to the production of radioisotopes for clinical examinations: these are some possible applications of 'portable' particle accelerators, which could soon become reality through a new type of interaction between light and matter studied at the Politecnico di Milano thanks to the ENSURE research project, supported by the European Research Council (ERC) as part of the Horizon 2020 program. The first results are published in the journal Science Advances.
"In these five years we have developed an unconventional particle acceleration technique", explains Matteo Passoni, full professor in theoretical physics of matter and project manager.
The technique “is based on super intense and ultra short laser pulses that hit very particular target materials, such as very low density nanostructured carbon foams, which are able to absorb energy in an extremely efficient way.
The interaction with the laser pulses causes the matter to transform into the plasma state, generating the most intense electric fields ever created in the laboratory: these, in turn, induce the acceleration of electrically charged particles at high energies and over very long distances. short.
A result that could pave the way for particle accelerators a few meters large or even portable, therefore increasingly compact, flexible and low-cost, for applications in the most varied sectors ".
