Particle Accelerators in The Industry

From what we know, particle accelerators are commonly used for medical or energy purposes, but did you know they could also be used for industrial purposes. Many manufacturing companies use the technology from particle accelerators to improve on the process of manufacturing their product while also improving on the quality of their product or packaging.

Semiconductors are an important part in almost all electrical devices in today's day in age. Semiconductors are basically materials that can conduct a small amount of electricity. Enough to power the hardware of the device while also not too much as to fry the whole device. Semiconductors are generally made from either silicon or germanium that has been doped. Doping is the process of adding impurities to the insulating material so the material would be able to conduct electricity. To dope a material, a beam of ions(sent from a particle accelerator) are fired into the material which then penetrate and rest inside the material. This is how the impurities are able to enter the insulator creating a semiconductor and this process is called ion implantation.

Like we have stated before hand, particle accelerators can be used to strengthen or create a multitude of plastics, metals or other materials. An example of this being shrink wrap. To create shrink wrap, particle accelerator fires an electron beam onto the polyethylene. Once the electrons collide with the polyethylene, the hydrogen-carbon bonds break leaving gaps in the polymer where new atoms can bond. This is where the leftover carbons begin to bond forming strong carbon-carbon bonds, which prevents the plastic from melting when being heated and creates the shrink wrap that we know today. This process can also be used for creating wire insulation, plastic foam, and other plastic materials of that sort. In addition, we can also strengthen certain materials using a similar process. Generally when curing(also known as strengthening) the material is put under high temperatures. But, this process takes time and is less effective than using an electron beam or a x ray to cure the material. And since companies need to produce these materials at a fast rate, this method is more suitable for use the mass production of the materials.

Particle accelerators are also used in the industry too keep sterility high. It uses the mechanics of the particle accelerator to kill off all bacteria and parasites which can be extremely dangerous to humans. The sterilization process is used in both medical and food and agricultural purposes. To purify the substances, beams of electrons are fired from small particle accelerators. the beam of electrons may can kill any microbes without damaging any of the material. this is a huge advantage from the traditional sterilization since the equipment and packaging gets damaged in other methods. This process is used in food preservation, though it can be much more tricky. To kill all bacteria and insects on the food, a dosage must be high enough to kill bacteria and insects from mating, and also low enough to cause no damage on the food. There is a long list of foods which are treated with the power of electron beams, such as fruits, vegetables and meats.