ACCELERATORS.ppt

ACCELERATORS Timothy Koeth Rutgers University Basics Motivation History, RD, and applications Failed attempts Getting warmer. Linear accelerator concepts Cyclotrons SynchroCyclotron (Frequency Modulated cyclotron) Synchrotron Rack’em, stack’em, and pack’em ! FNAL Basic Accelerator Two Types. 1st Linear 2nd: Circular Nature’s Particle Accelerators Naturally occurring radioactive sources: Up to 5 MeV Alpha’s (helium nuclei) Up to 3 MeV Beta particles (electrons) Natural sources are difficult and limited: Chemical processing: purity, messy, and expensive Low intensity Poor geometry Uncontrolled energies, usually very broad “Start the ball rolling…” 1927: Lord Rutherford requested a “copious supply” of projectiles more energetic than natural alpha and beta particles. At the opening of the resulting High Tension Laboratory, Rutherford went on to reiterate the goal: What we require is an apparatus to give us a potential of the order of 10 million volts which can be safely accommodated in a reasonably sized room and operated by a few kilowatts of power. We require too an exhausted tube capable of withstanding this voltage… I see no reason why such a requirement cannot be made practical. FAILED ATTEMPTS 1928: Curt Urban, Arno Brasch, and Fritz Lange successfully achieved 15 MV by harnessing lightning in the Italian Alps ! The two who survived the experiment went on to design an accelerator tube capable of withstanding that voltage. FAILED ATTEMPTS1930 Intense power requirement Insulator technology was not available Large oil filled tanks “archived” 5 MV Still, no capable accelerating tube available Small Victories Try, Try and Try Again1931 Brash Lange try again Successful impulse generator Safer, but only 900 keV Thought to be too low Back to the Alps Enter Robert J. Van de Graff1931-4 Van de Graff (VDG) achieved 1.5 MV in 1931, with two VDG metal spheres. Proposed 10 MV with two 20 foot spheres on 20 foot towers. It worked ! B