Easy Grow Lightite® sheeting is being used at a research facility in Switzerland to help physicists model the birth and death of stars!
At Easy Grow, we’re proud that our Lightite® sheeting is not only trusted by growers worldwide, but is also now being used at the world’s leading physics research facility — CERN.
The high-quality Lightite® range of reflective grow sheets are 100% lightproof and designed to reflect both light and heat, helping growers maximise yields in the growroom. But beyond horticulture, the very same reflective and opaque properties are enabling physicists at CERN to study the birth and death of stars.
We spoke to Miguel, a researcher at CERN’s ISOLDE facility, to learn why Lightite® was the best choice for their cutting-edge experiments.
What Is Cern?
We asked Miguel to explain a little more about CERN:
“The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN is a European research organisation that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, the organisation is based in a northwest suburb of Geneva on the France–Swiss border, and has 22 member states.”
CERN is internationally recognised for groundbreaking experiments in particle physics, including the Large Hadron Collider. But at ISOLDE, the focus is on rare isotopes — atoms that exist only in the cores of stars.
What are you currently researching?
Miguel explained the purpose of their work at the ISOLDE facility:
“Our research is conducted at the ISOLDE facility, at CERN. In this experiment we produce rare isotopes, that is, atoms that have the same chemical properties as ordinary matter but different mass. These isotopes are important to understand the evolution of stars, as the only places they occur naturally are the core of stars.”
To study these isotopes, researchers measure the neutrons they emit. Special detectors built from plastic materials are used to pick up the radiation — glowing when hit by neutrons, much like the glow-in-the-dark effect on watch faces.
Why Lightite® Sheeting?
When asked why Lightite® was chosen, Miguel was clear:
“Since the efficiency of this type of material to detect radiation depends on how much light we produce and collect, we must wrap our detectors in completely opaque materials that at the same time reflect back as much light as possible. We have found Lightite® is by far the best solution for that.”
The detectors at ISOLDE are wrapped in Lightite® sheeting, which ensures maximum light reflection while blocking external interference. This dramatically increases the sensitivity of neutron detection, allowing researchers to study more exotic isotopes.
Miguel added:
“The rolls you provided will be used to build a new set of detectors to increment our detection capabilities. Increased detection efficiency is crucial for us to be able to measure the more exotic and difficult-to-produce species. As so often happens in life, it turns out that the most interesting isotopes to measure are often the hardest to produce!”
What Will the Detectors Be Used For?
The ultimate goal of this work is to model stellar life cycles:
“What we do with this detector is neutron energy spectroscopy, we measure the energy of the neutron radiation to understand the properties of the emitter. These properties in turn allow to fine-tune the calculations other physicists use to model the birth and death of stars.”
In short, Lightite® sheeting is helping scientists understand how stars are born, evolve, and eventually die.
From Growing Environments to the Stars
What started as the best reflective sheeting in horticulture has now become a vital material in nuclear physics experiments. Lightite®’s unrivalled opacity and reflection mean it performs just as well in the lab as it does in the growroom.
We are incredibly proud to support researchers at CERN in their mission to unlock the mysteries of the universe.
With thanks to Miguel and the ISOLDE team at CERN for sharing this remarkable application of Lightite® sheeting.