INDEPTH: SYNCHROTRON
Synchrotron FAQs: a racetrack for electrons
CBC News Online | Oct. 21, 2004
The synchrotron facility in Saskatoon
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What is a synchrotron?
The Canadian Light Source Synchrotron at the University of Saskatchewan is a football field-sized facility that uses extremely bright light to peer inside matter.
It is one of the world's most powerful microscopes, shedding X-ray "light" millions of times brighter than the sun.
It is the largest scientific laboratory built in Canada in a generation.
As one of the few "third generation" synchrotrons in the world, CLS produces even more light to investigate the nature and structure of matter at the atomic level.
How does it work?
A synchrotron uses powerful magnets to accelerate tiny particles to nearly the speed of light.
The powerful magnet and radio frequency waves accelerate negatively-charged electrons along a stainless steel tube, where they reach high speeds.
As the magnets are turned on and off, electrons get pulled along the ring of tubes.
Since the fast-moving electrons emit a continuous spectrum of light, scientists can pick whatever wavelength they need for their experiments: visible light, ultraviolet light or X-rays.
The facility's versatility lies in its ability to focus intense beams of photons for many applications in basic research and industry.
What are the applications?
Heavy elements that don't occur in nature, such as californium and berkelium, can be created with a synchrotron by bashing lighter elements together at high energies. Those two elements were created in a synchrotron in, of course, Berkeley, Calif.
A bubble chamber, a tank filled with superheated fluid, can be used to detect the motions of particles that move through it. Scientists can watch the results of collisions between atoms in such a chamber and find out more about their structures.
When charged particles, such as electrons, are accelerated to high speeds, they emit radiation, especially X-rays. The light can be used for a variety of purposes including:
- "Burning" computer chip designs into metal wafers.
- Studying molecule shapes and protein crystals.
- Analysing chemicals to determine what they're made of.
- Watching living cells as they react to drugs.
Researchers from 18 universities across Canada could benefit from the Saskatoon facility. The researchers study a range of fields, including chemistry, physics, geology, biochemistry, climate change, engineering and medicine
How much did it cost?
The facility cost $173.5 million, plus investments in scholarships and research chairs.
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