China lights up ‘super microscope’ hopes with world-leading electron gun beam
Por Zhang Tong — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Science China Science China lights up ‘super microscope’ hopes with world-leading electron gun beam
By observing matter at the atomic scale, the Hefei Advanced Light Facility could drive breakthroughs in microchips
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Zhang Tong in Beijing Published: 12:00pm, 28 Sep 2026 China has produced an electron beam using a cutting-edge electron gun, taking a step towards building a “super microscope” that could help drive breakthroughs in everything from Alzheimer’s research to advanced microchips .
The Hefei Advanced Light Facility (HALF) in central China’s Anhui province fired its first electron beam on September 20.
Bunches of electrons generated by the gun were accelerated by a 192-metre (630-foot) linear accelerator until they reached 2.2 billion electron volts, marking a milestone for the fourth-generation light source project.
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