(Press-News.org) Stanford University in the USA has an X-FEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser) with a pricetag of hundreds of millions. It provides images of 'molecules in action', using a kilometer-long electron accelerator. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have developed an alternative that can do many of the same things. However this alternative fits on a tabletop, and costs around half a million euro. That's why the researchers have jokingly called it 'the poor man's X-FEL'.
It's one of the few remaining 'holy grails' of science: a system that allows you to observe the extremely high-speed molecular processes at an atomic scale. You could call it an ultra-fast video microscope. Instead of visible light this kind of system uses X-rays or electrons, because it requires radiation with a wavelength of less than a nanometer. The X-rays or electrons have to be emitted in ultra short pulses, so that the exposure time is extremely short. However these pulses are not easy to generate. An X FEL uses X-ray pulses for this purpose, generated by accelerating electrons in an accelerator of a kilometer, or longer. These electrons are then converted into X-rays. An installation of this kind is very costly, uses large amounts of energy and needs a whole team to operate it. A European X-FEL, which will cost a billion euro, is currently under construction in Hamburg (Germany).
One centimeter
TU/e doctoral candidate ir. Thijs van Oudheusden (Department of Applied Physics) has developed a machine that in many respects can compete with this billion-euro facility, based on ideas from his co supervisor dr.ir. Jom Luiten. The essence of their 'poor man's X-FEL' is that it uses electrons instead of X-rays. "Why convert electrons into X-rays if you can use the electrons themselves?", asks Van Oudheusden. "As well as that you only need to give the electrons a low energy, so you can accelerate them in just a centimeter. That's why the whole system fits on a tabletop."
Just one shot
The physical barrier that Van Oudheusden had to overcome is that the electrons in electron bunches repel each other. This causes the electron bunches to expand, making them longer than the desired 100 femtoseconds (1 femtosecond is 10-15 second), which in turn would make the 'video microscope' too slow. Jom Luiten thought of a solution to prevent the undesired expansion. The key was to create bunches of exactly the right shape, so they can be controlled and focused by means of electrical fields into bunches of the desired type and length. All with a number of electrons (1 million) that is sufficient to create a diffraction pattern in just a single shot.
In users' own labs
Supervisor prof.dr. Marnix van der Wiel believes that half to three-quarters of the kind of research that can be done on an X-FEL can also be done with the 'poor man's X_FEL'. But this doesn't immediately mean that the latter is automatically a lot cheaper in relation to the scientific output that can be generated with it. "The X-FEL at Stanford works non-stop, all year round, and is used by thousands of research groups over several decades. So if you're allocated time on the system you have to take all your equipment to the USA, where you have to stick to a very strict schedule. Our finding is a good alternative for people who want to have the freedom to do research in their own labs. As far as the costs are concerned, it depends on the user if our system will turn out to be cheaper on a per publication basis."
Half a million
TU/e spin-off AccTec BV intends to build the machine developed by Van Oudheusden and Luiten and to sell it to scientific users. AccTec expects the total price to be below half a million euro.
Thijs van Oudheusden gained his PhD on 13 December with his doctoral thesis entitled 'Electron source for sub-relativistic single-shot femtosecond diffraction'. His research received financial support from the Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter – FOM).
INFORMATION:
Eindhoven University builds affordable alternative to mega-laser X-FEL
2010-12-23
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Some firms benefit from increased spending despite recession
2010-12-23
During recessions, increased spending on research and development and on advertising can benefit certain types of firms and punish others, according to researchers, who identified the firm types that spend most effectively.
More than 10,000 firm-years of data from publicly listed U.S. firms from 1969 to 2008 -- a period that included seven recessions -- were examined by Gary L. Lilien, Distinguished Research Professor of Management Science, Penn State Smeal College of Business; Raji Srinivasan, University of Texas; and Shrihari Sridhar, Michigan State University.
The ...
Cord blood cell transplantation provides improvement for severely brain-injured child
2010-12-23
Citation: Jozwiak, S.; Habich, A.; Kotulska, K.; Sarnowska, A.; Kropiwnicki, T.; Janowski, M.; Jurkiewicz, E.; Lukomska, B.; Kmiec, T.; Walecki, J.; Roszkowski, M.; Litwin, M.; Oldak, T.; Boruczkowski, D.; Domanska-Janik, K. Intracerebroventricular Transplantation of Cord Blood-Derived Neural Progenitors in a Child With Severe Global Brain Ischemic Injury. Cell Medicine 1(2):71-80; 2010.
The editorial offices for Cell Medicine are at the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, College of Medicine, the University of South Florida. Contact, David Eve, PhD. ...
Photons vs. protons for treatment of spinal cord gliomas
2010-12-23
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A study comparing the long-term outcomes of patients with spinal-cord tumors following radiation therapy suggests that certain subsets of patients have better long-term survival. It also suggests that photon-based radiation therapy may result in better survival than proton-beam therapy, even in patients with more favorable characteristics.
This is the first study to report the long-term outcomes of spinal-cord tumor patients treated by modern radiotherapy techniques, the researchers say. Gliomas, which represent most spinal cord tumors, develop in about ...
Which comes first: Exercise-induced asthma or obesity?
2010-12-23
Montreal, December 22, 2010 – Obese people are more likely to report exercise as a trigger for asthma. Of 673 people evaluated in a new study whose results are published in the journal The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 71 percent of participants reported exercise-induced asthma (ETA).
The findings are important, since 2.3 million Canadians are affected by asthma according to Statistics Canada.
ETA affects up to 90 percent of asthma sufferers, says lead author Simon Bacon, a professor at the Concordia Department of Exercise Science and a researcher at the Hôpital du ...
Imagine your future self: Will it help you save money?
2010-12-23
Why do people choose present consumption over their long-term financial interests? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that consumers have trouble feeling connected to their future selves.
"This willingness to forego money now and wait for future benefits is strongly affected by how connected we feel to our future self, who will ultimately benefit from the resources we save," write authors Daniel M. Bartels (Columbia Business School) and Oleg Urminsky (University of Chicago).
When we think of saving money for the future, the person we think of can ...
Fast sepsis test can save lives
2010-12-23
Although it is the third most frequent cause of death in Germany, blood poisoning is frequently underestimated. In this country, 60,000 persons die every year from some form of sepsis, almost as many as from heart attacks. The Sepsis Nexus of Expertise states that patients arriving at the intensive care ward with blood poisoning only have a 50% chance of surviving. One of the reasons for the high mortality rate is the fact that patients are not correctly treated due to late diagnosis. The doctor and the patient used to have to wait as much as 48 hours for the laboratory ...
Why do risks with human characteristics make powerful consumers feel lucky?
2010-12-23
People who feel powerful are more likely to believe they can beat cancer if it's described in human terms, according to new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
The study looks at anthropomorphism, or the tendency to attribute humanlike characteristics, intentions, and behavior to nonhuman objects. "The present research shows important downstream consequences of anthropomorphism that go beyond simple liking of products with humanlike physical features," write authors Sara Kim and Ann L. McGill (both University of Chicago).
Previous consumer research has already ...
Does equality increase status spending?
2010-12-23
People are happier when goods are more equally distributed, but equality makes people want to spend more to get ahead of their neighbors, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Authors Nailya Ordabayeva (Erasmus University, The Netherlands) and Pierre Chandon (INSEAD, France) examined the way equality influences the consumption decisions of people in the bottom tiers of social groups. The researchers found that increasing equality decreases bottom-tier consumer envy of what other people have and boosts their satisfaction with their possessions. ...
Love-smitten consumers will do anything for their cars and guns
2010-12-23
The way people treat their possessions looks like love, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"Is it possible for consumers to be in love with their possessions?" ask authors John L. Lastovicka (Arizona State University) and Nancy J. Sirianni (Texas Christian University). When it comes to cars, computers, bicycles, and firearms, the answer seems to be a resounding yes.
The researchers visited five car shows in Arizona and conducted in-depth interviews with car enthusiasts (males and females, aged 19-68). They found that love-smitten consumers ...
Climbing Mount Everest: Noble adventure or selfish pursuit?
2010-12-23
Adventure seekers are plunking down more than $50,000 to climb Mount Everest, but a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that people who pay for transformative experiences often lack the communitarian spirit that usually defines such activities.
"In order to escape the rules, contraptions, and stresses of daily life in the city, many people search for new and liberating experiences that transcend their normal bureaucratic and corporate existence," write authors Gülnur Tumbat (San Francisco State University) and Russell W. Belk (York University). However, ...