Overview
- Penn State–led researchers report numerical simulations of lightning-like radiation bursts in small solid blocks under lab-achievable conditions, published March 5 in Physical Review Letters.
- The models find dense dielectrics roughly 1,000 times denser than air could sustain thundercloud-scale electric potentials of about 100 million volts over just a few centimeters.
- Predicted discharges arise from photoelectric feedback via relativistic runaway electron avalanches that can generate X-ray and gamma-ray emissions.
- Candidate materials include acrylic, quartz, and bismuth germanate, with initiation driven by charge buildup from a high-powered electron source.
- The team emphasizes that experimental validation is needed next, with potential applications in compact X-ray sources and controlled, lower-cost studies of lightning physics.