In case you missed the news last week, researchers converted the energy of an electron beam into a pulse of coherent light with an efficiency of 30 percent. If you need perspective, this is much higher than the 10 percent efficiency of most free-electron lasers.

According to the breaking news story by PhysicsWorld.com, while the demonstration produces only infrared light, the method could lead to efficient, high-power lasers operating over a range of wavelengths, including X-ray.  X-ray sources like these could be used to etch circuits on semiconductor chips even faster.

At the Brookhaven National Laboratory, a research institute in Upton, New York,  the energy conversion was demonstrated by first accelerating a beam of electrons in a five-metre-long tunnel. They then directed those electrons for several more metres along a helical path using magnets, before illuminating those electrons with an infrared laser.

Courtesy: News Story, PhysicsWorld.com

The method could lead to efficient, high-power lasers operating over a range of wavelengths, including X-ray. Such X-ray sources could be used to etch circuits on semiconductor chips faster and more efficiently. -PhysicsWorld.com

Interested in learning more? Read the Full Article Here.

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