One trillion times brighter than the sun, this large scientific device will emit its first beam of light by the end of the year

The high-energy synchrotron radiation source of the large scientific facility in Beijing Huairou Science City is expected to emit the "first beam" by the end of 2024. At present, the work of breaking through the integrated development of Huairou Science City is being accelerated.

Image source: Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

As one of China's large scientific facilities, the High Energy Synchrotron Radiation Source (HEPS) is the core facility of the Huairou Science City large scientific facility cluster jointly built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing. After its completion, it will become China's first high-energy synchrotron radiation source and one of the brightest fourth-generation synchrotron radiation sources in the world. It can emit light 1 trillion times brighter than the sun, which will help to analyze the microstructure and evolution mechanism of matter at a deeper level, and provide a high-tech research platform for enhancing China's national development strategy and original innovation capabilities in the field of cutting-edge basic science and technology.

Synchrotron radiation is an electromagnetic radiation phenomenon produced by charged particles moving at close to the speed of light on a curved track. In a synchrotron radiation source device, electrons are accelerated by an accelerator to produce a high-energy electron beam and deflected in a magnetic field. Due to the relativistic effect, these electrons emit photons of various wavelengths from infrared to X-rays. Similar to when sunlight hits an object, many photons carry information such as the object's color, size, and shape into our eyes. In synchrotron radiation sources, people use various detectors instead of eyes, using synchrotron radiation photons with wavelengths covering a wide range from the atomic level to the biological cell scale to study substances in various environments. This provides strong support for cutting-edge research breakthroughs and the realization of key technologies in various fields such as physics, chemistry, materials science, metrology, earth science, environmental science, and life science.

Image source: Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

As a major national science and technology infrastructure project in China, HEPS is like an oversized X-ray machine . It can accelerate electrons to nearly the speed of light through a three-stage accelerator, while generating synchrotron radiation. By utilizing the characteristics of synchrotron radiation such as strong penetration, high brightness, high intensity and wide energy spectrum, it can "see clearly" the microscopic world and reveal the generation and evolution mechanism of the microscopic structure of matter.

The construction of the large scientific facility HEPS started in June 2019. On February 1, 2023, the installation of the HEPS storage ring tunnel equipment officially started.

On March 14, HEPS achieved another important milestone - its linear accelerator emitted beams at full energy and successfully accelerated the first electron beam, marking the entry of HEPS construction into the parallel stage of scientific research equipment installation and beam adjustment.

The interior of the High Energy Synchrotron Radiation Source (HEPS) accelerator storage ring magnet (photo taken on December 11). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jin Liwang

On December 11, the last magnet of the HEPS storage ring was installed in place, marking the completion of the installation of the main equipment of the HEPS storage ring.

It is understood that at present, the batch processing and testing of vacuum, beam control, injection and extraction, high frequency, low temperature and other equipment and beam line stations are being vigorously promoted. "Chasing light" will not stop, and the future is promising!

Comprehensive sources: Xinhua News Agency, China News Network, official website of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc.