China lights up ‘super microscope’ hopes with world-leading electron gun beam

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.