Tech foundation of future industries

Editor's note: In the vibrant Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, future-oriented innovations are the driving force behind rapid development. This column will highlight how innovators are overcoming developmental limitations and pioneering technological and institutional breakthroughs to inject a fresh impetus into future growth.

Zhang Junrong, who is responsible for user experiments at the China Spallation Neutron Source, a world-leading scientific project in Dongguan, Guangdong province, recalls a company conducting tests for more than 20 days at the facility, which operates around the clock.

This is an "exceptionally long" duration for user experiments, Zhang says. Most users with scientific purposes typically conduct their experiments for just one or two days, with some visiting the facility for several days throughout the year.

As the first spallation neutron source in China and the fourth worldwide, the CSNS serves as a supermicroscopy to explore the inner structure of materials in an efficient and nondestructive way. It is also a potential game-changing tool for strategic industries to break technological bottlenecks and fuel economic growth.

The facility experiences intense physical reactions that are invisible to the naked eye. Accelerated almost to the speed of light, protons are shot out like shells, striking heavy metal targets. The large number of neutrons that have been released there are the ideal "probe" for humanity to observe the microscopic world.

An increasing number of enterprises are using the facility to examine and optimize their products. With short research and development cycles, they often repeatedly test their products over a condensed period, before swiftly bringing the next product for evaluation.

"It has never been the case that testing a product just once or twice leads to success.

Such situations either indicate a lack of understanding of our device or that our device can't serve their demands," says Zhang, deputy director of the Neutron Science Division of Dongguan campus research branch under the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Compared to scientific research, serving company users requires quick responses and long-term support. After every experiment, researchers at the CSNS need to analyze the results and explain to the concerned enterprise how they can help improve their products.