By Peter Weiss
Revving subatomic particles to fantastic speeds within huge accelerators has been a mainstay for physicists probing what makes matter tick. Now, with a novel, table-top machine, scientists say they hope to measure molecular properties with greater precision than before and to assemble molecules into a new type of matter.
For the past 70 years, accelerators have been able to manipulate the speed and energy of only charged particles, such as electrons and ions. A research team led by Gerard Meijer of the FOM Institute for Plasma Physics in Nieuwegein and the University of Nijmegen, both in the Netherlands, has now found a way of applying accelerator techniques to uncharged molecules, such as ammonia, formaldehyde, and water.