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Jun 29, 2024

New method for generating monochromatic light in storage rings

Posted by in categories: particle physics, space

When ultrafast electrons are deflected, they emit light—synchrotron radiation. This is used in so-called storage rings in which magnets force the particles onto a closed path. This light is longitudinally incoherent and consists of a broad spectrum of wavelengths.

Its high brilliance makes it an excellent tool for . Monochromators can be used to pick out individual wavelengths from the spectrum, but this reduces the radiant power by many orders of magnitude to values of a few watts only.

But what if a were instead to deliver monochromatic, with outputs of several kilowatts, analogous to a ? Physicist Alexander Chao and his doctoral student Daniel Ratner found an answer to this challenge in 2010: if the orbiting in a storage ring become shorter than the wavelength of the light they emit, the emitted radiation becomes coherent and therefore millions of times more powerful.

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