By <a href="mailto:kgreene@lbl.gov">Kate Greene</a> -<br><br>Using one of the most powerful lasers in the world, researchers have accelerated subatomic particles to the highest energies ever recorded from a compact accelerator.<br><br>The team, from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab), used a specialized petawatt laser and a charged-particle gas called plasma to get the particles up to speed. The setup is known as a laser-plasma accelerator, an emerging class of particle accelerators that physicists believe can shrink traditional, miles-long accelerators to machines that can fit on a table.<br><br><br><a href="https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/12/08/world-record-for-compact-particle-accelerator/">READ MORE ON BERKELEY LAB</a>
