The Ion Accelerator

Talk: 29th April 2026, 19:00, Conference Hall/Library of Alovera.

The talk will be given by:

Dr. Nuria Gordillo García, Senior Researcher at the Department of Applied Physics of the Autonomous University of Madrid.

The accelerator you didn't know you had right next door

Imagine a machine capable of firing “ion beams” that allows us to uncover the secrets of materials, atom by atom. It sounds like science fiction… but it exists, and it’s right here. In Madrid, on the campus of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, we have an ion accelerator unique in Spain that allows us to transform materials and explore how matter is made at its deepest level. When we hear “particle accelerator,” we usually think of gigantic facilities, detectors the size of buildings, and thousands of scientists searching for the strangest particles in the universe. Something distant, enormous, and difficult to understand. But you don’t need to travel to CERN to find fascinating physics. At CMAM-UAM (Centro de Microanálisisi de Materiales), we use ion beams to do amazing things: for example, modifying diamonds and turning tiny imperfections, like a missing atom in the crystal lattice, into extremely precise quantum sensors. Because, sometimes, the technology of the future doesn’t arise from perfection… but from learning to harness imperfections. (Text: Dr. Nuria Gordillo)

About the presenter...

Dr. Nuria Gordillo García is a Full Professor and Researcher in the Department of Applied Physics at the University of Madrid. In addition to her research work, she is also specialist in Advanced Instrumentation, and member of the scientific staff at the CMAM-UAM ion accelerator (Center for Microanalysis of Materials), located in the campus of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She is author of numerous publications and, besides teaching at UAM, she is a renowned science communicator who has produced monographs and videos on various aspects of scientific research, including monographs on ion accelerators.

The talk

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