Electrostatic ion accelerator

Apparatus for producing medically active radioisotopes by bombarding targets maintained at substantially ground potential with accelerated ions, said apparatus comprising

• a negative ion source adapted for generating a minimum ion current of approximately 0.2 milliamperes,
• a high-voltage terminal,
• a stripping cell located in said terminal,
• a first accelerating column connected between said ion source and said stripping cell,
• a second accelerating column connected between said stripping cell and said target,
• means connected to said first and said second accelerator columns for maintaining a high-vacuum therein, and
• means connected to said ion source and said terminal for supplying a positive potential of less than 2 MV to said terminal.

A method for producing medically active radioisotopes by bombarding a target maintained at substantially ground potential with accelerated ions, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a negative ion beam having a minimum ion current of approximately 0.2 milliamperes;
• accelerating said ion beam through a first accelerating column, the voltage drop across the first accelerating column being less than 2MV;
• stripping electrons from the accelerated negative ions in a stripping cell to generate a positive ion beam output;
• and
• accelerating the positive ion beam through a second accelerating column to the target, the voltage drop across the second column being substantially the same as the voltage drop across the first column and the beam current at the target being a minimum of approximately 0.2 milliamperes.

Apparatus for producing epithermal neutrons for medical treatment of tumors comprising

• an ion source for generating an ion current of at least one milliampere,
• a high voltage terminal,
• a stripping cell located within the high-voltage terminal,
• a lithium target,
• a first accelerating column connected between said ion source and said stripping cell,
• a second accelerating column connected between said stripping cell and said target,
• means connected to said first and second accelerator columns for maintaining a high vacuum therein, and
• a solid state power supply electrically connected to said ion source and said high-voltage terminal for supplying a positive high-voltage potential of at least 1 MV to said terminal.