As of today, theALBA Synchrotron Light Laboratory. It is a state-of-the-art particle accelerator thatworks like a gigantic microscope capable of discovering the secrets of atoms and molecules.
ALBA consists of aringlarge, 268 meters long, designed for electrons to travel through100,000 times every microseconds, that is to say, practically at the speed of light. Once accelerated, the electrons are injected into a storage ring. There they circulate for hours with an energy that is kept constant by radio frequency cavities. When the electrons circulating through the ring curve, they emit light of great intensity. This light is highly focused, polarized, and is emitted in the form of pulses, like the flash of a camera.
The synchrotron radiation thus obtained can be used in many research fields, from materials science to biology. Among other things, the new throttle will be used toisstudy proteins and virusesand help designnew drugs. In addition, the X-rays emitted by a synchrotron can have applications in medical imaging and in certain therapies. Another of its main fields of application will be that ofenvironmental science, to analyze, for example, air pollution. It will also have such curious uses as the study of the structures of paintings or texts that until now were illegible.
In Europe there are about 20 synchrotrons, but ALBA will be the only one located in the south of the Paris-Trieste line (excluding the European source of Grenoble).
