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China Fires First Electron Beam at Hefei Advanced Light Facility, Marking a Step Toward a Fourth-Generation “Super Microscope”
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Milestone: First Beam Achieved
On September 20, the Hefei Advanced Light Facility (HALF) in Anhui province successfully generated its inaugural electron beam. The beam was produced by a newly built electron gun and accelerated through a 192-metre (630-foot) linear accelerator to an energy of 2.2 billion electron volts. Project scientists describe the achievement as a key step toward completing the fourth-generation light-source system.
Background: From Early Light Sources to Fourth-Generation Design
China’s pursuit of advanced light sources began in 1989 with the Hefei Light Source, the nation’s first dedicated “super microscope.” Earlier facilities relied on repurposed high-energy physics equipment, such as the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider. Fourth-generation sources, like HALF, improve on prior generations by controlling electron beams with far greater precision, producing X-rays that are finer, more concentrated, and substantially brighter.
Technical Details and Expected Capabilities
HALF’s design calls for X-rays that are more than 100 times brighter and more coherent than those from third-generation facilities. The complex will host up to 35 experimental stations, with the first batch of 10 stations featuring an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography platform—technology critical for manufacturing advanced semiconductors currently restricted by U.S. export controls. Additional stations will focus on nano-device research. Construction began in 2023, and the project is slated for completion in 2028. Together with the High Energy Photon Source in Beijing and the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, HALF will complete China’s national advanced light-source network covering high, medium, and low-energy ranges.
Official Perspectives
Project chief Feng Donglai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, emphasized that all key linear-accelerator components were produced domestically, underscoring the program’s self-reliance. Scientist He Zhigang highlighted that the beam’s quality, stability, and reliability are crucial for the experiments that will be conducted at HALF, noting that these attributes directly affect the facility’s scientific output.
Anticipated Scientific and Technological Impact
HALF is expected to enable breakthroughs across multiple fields. Researchers anticipate advances in high-temperature superconductivity, next-generation energy-storage batteries, advanced materials, and life-science investigations such as Alzheimer’s disease research. The unprecedented brightness of the X-rays should also facilitate new experimental methods, potentially accelerating discoveries that have historically emerged from earlier light-source generations, such as structural insights into viruses and novel medical treatments.