appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Ling Xin

China has brought online a record-breaking particle accelerator that can produce the world’s most intense beams of charged atoms.
It gives scientists a new tool to create previously unknown atomic nuclei and advance research on cancer treatment and spacecraft materials.
Scientific operations have now begun at the 2.6 billion yuan (US$384.1 million) facility in Huizhou, Guangdong province after construction was completed on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Known as the High Intensity Heavy-ion Accelerator Facility – or HIAF – it was developed over 16 years by researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics in Lanzhou, Gansu and their collaborators.
The machine can pack up to eight times as many atoms into each pulse as the previous world record, held by a German particle accelerator in Darmstadt.

Unlike most comparable facilities in operation – including the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams in the United States – HIAF combines a 100-metre-long linear accelerator, a 570-metre-circumference circular accelerator and storage rings into a single complex.
That allows scientists to boost atomic nuclei to higher energies and keep them circulating for repeated experiments.
Yang Jiancheng, HIAF’s chief engineer at the Institute of Modern Physics, told Xinhua the facility would help scientists answer some of the biggest questions in nuclear physics.
Those questions range from whether there is an end to the periodic table and how heavy elements such as gold and uranium were formed, to how the most exotic atomic nuclei are structured.
He explained that atoms become positively charged ions after losing one or more electrons. Those ions are then accelerated by electric fields and steered by magnetic fields into high-speed beams.
“These fast-moving ions act like microscopic bullets,” Yang said. “By smashing them into target atomic nuclei, or into each other, scientists can recreate extreme conditions found only inside stars or during supernova explosions.”
He said HIAF would help scientists determine how large and unstable an atomic nucleus could become before it fell apart. Beyond fundamental science, it would also be used to test spacecraft against radiation, develop new materials, improve cancer therapy and produce new medical isotopes.


HIAF was first proposed in 2010 and selected by the National Development and Reform Commission as a major national scientific research facility the following year.
Since then, researchers have overcome a series of technical hurdles, including finding ways to accelerate ions much more quickly and building one of the world’s largest ultra-high-vacuum systems to keep them from colliding with stray gas molecules, according to Yang.
Construction began in December 2018. Since producing its first particle beam in October 2025, HIAF has already reported early results in high-precision nuclear mass measurements, the production of radioactive nuclei, radiation testing of materials and precision studies of highly charged ions, according to Xinhua.
The report said the facility would be open to scientists from around the world.


China tests first practical submarine solar power plant at 10 metres depth in the open sea

Rare earth exposure can triple low birthweight risk: Chinese study

China must enforce high standards of integrity for scientists

Is China’s fabled Empress Dowager Huayang buried near an airport? A study says yes

Science

China fires up powerful particle accelerator to unlock secrets of atoms

The High Intensity Heavy-ion Accelerator Facility, or HIAF, is up and running in Huizhou, Guangdong province. Photo: Handout

HIAF’s high-resolution storage ring spectrometer. Photo: Handout

Chinese scientists have bad news on having babies in space. But there is a silver lining

The study marks the world’s first successful differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into germ cells in a space environment, according to paper published in Science Advances. Photo: Shutterstock

How electroacupuncture calms inflammation and the super microscope that showed it

The team tested their system for diverse applications within live mice to demonstrate the system’s “versatility and robustness”. Photo: Shutterstock

The RUSH3D-HR system. Photo: Handout

China plans to hit an asteroid with a Mach 26 projectile in planet defence test

China has revealed plans to hit an asteroid at 9km per second, equivalent to more than 26 times the speed of sound, before 2030. Photo: Shutterstock 

Bridging the divide: how AI scientists unite despite growing geopolitical rifts

For policymakers in Beijing and Washington, artificial intelligence has become a high-stakes arena for their strategic rivalry. Photo: Getty Images

Dario Amodei, CEO of American AI research company Anthropic, argues that AI’s exponential growth makes government oversight necessary. Photo: AFP

News

China

Facility in country’s south will help scientists answer some of the biggest questions in nuclear physics, according to its chief designer


Facility in country’s south will help scientists answer some of the biggest questions in nuclear physics, according to its chief designer.


Huizhou

Germany

China fires up powerful particle accelerator to unlock secrets of atoms

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Facility in country’s south will help scientists answer some of the biggest questions in nuclear physics, according to its chief designer

Facility in country’s south will help scientists answer some of the biggest questions in nuclear physics, according to its chief designer