Designing a particle accelerator the size of a tabletop could accelerate electrons to more powerful energy states than existing large accelerators can achieve, according to a new study.

Particle accelerators are important tools for studying particle physics. In addition to research, accelerators are also used in many fields such as medical diagnosis, tumor analysis, and measurement of isotopes. A typical particle accelerator takes up a lot of space, the well-known particle accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) laboratory in Switzerland is 17 miles long.

Researchers at the University of Rochester in the United States have theoretically realized a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA), claiming to accelerate particles to similar intensities, requiring only the volume of an ordinary accelerator. One in ten thousand.

This method does not simply gather the lasers in one place, but engraves the laser into a certain shape through special optical elements. Invent an optical element like an amphitheater with concentric steps of different radii. When using this element to focus the high-energy laser, different concentric circles will cause the laser to have different delays, which is equivalent to "imprinting" the laser pulse into a certain shape.

When the imprinted pulse enters the plasma, it creates a wake similar to the wake of a motorboat running on the water. The wake travels at the speed of light, and electrons are accelerated by the wake, just as a water skier rides a boat's wake. Electrons can accelerate beyond the speed of light and continue to accelerate, the researchers say.

While this research is still in the theoretical stage, researchers at the University of Rochester are planning to build EP-OPAL, the world's most powerful laser accelerator. By then, this device will be able to accelerate electrons to a level that cannot be achieved by current technology, providing a powerful tool for high-speed particle research.