Researchers at the University of Colorado (CU) Denver have found a novel way to create extreme electromagnetic fields, much like those at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, on a thumb-sized chip in the laboratory.
The breakthrough promises a revolution in science, allowing quantum scientists to probe ideas that are straight out of science fiction and improve our understanding of medicine and physics, a press release said.
Electromagnetic fields are created when electrons inside materials vibrate and bounce at very high speeds. These fields are important since they power most modern technology, from electronic chips to large scientific equipment used in modern medicine.
Even searching for the elusive dark matter or understanding the quantum makeup of atoms uses extremely powerful electromagnetic fields. Creating these high-frequency fields requires extensive facilities such as the LHC in Switzerland, which has over 16 miles of tunnels that generate high-energy beams.
A research team under the leadership of Aakash Sahai, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at UC Denver, has found a way to recreate this on a thumb-sized chip in a regular laboratory.
How does the tech work?
Sahai’s team has built a silicon-based chip-like material that can withstand high-energy particle beams and access electromagnetic fields generated by a quantum electron gas.
The device handles the heat flow generated by the oscillation while keeping the gas stable, providing an opportunity for scientists to see the activity like never before.
The approach was designed at CU Denver and tested at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
“Manipulating such high energy flow while preserving the underlying structure of the material is the breakthrough,” said Kalyan Tirumalasetty, a graduate student at UC Denver who also contributed to the project.
“This breakthrough in technology can make a real change in the world. It is about understanding how nature works and using that knowledge to make a positive impact on the world.”
What can it be used for?
The researchers are hopeful that their technological feat will aid in making gamma-ray lasers a reality. Also known as a graser, the gamma-ray laser is a hypothetical device that produces coherent gamma-rays, much like a conventional laser produces coherent rays in the visible light spectrum.
“We could get imaging of tissue down to not just the nucleus of cells but down to the nucleus of the underlying atoms,” explained Sahai in the press release.
“That means scientists and doctors would be able to see what’s going on at the nuclear level and that could accelerate our understanding of immense forces that dominate at such small scales while also leading to better medical treatments and cures.”
Sahai added that eventually, the gamma ray laser could modify the nucleus and even remove cancerous cells at a nano level. But that’s not all. The approach could also be deployed to probe the very fabric of the universe and explore if multiverses exist.
“In the past, we’ve had technological breakthroughs that propelled us forward, such as the sub-atomic structure leading to lasers, computer chips, and LEDs. This innovation, which is also based on material science, is along the same lines,” concluded Sahai in the press release.