Nested high voltage generator/particle accelerator

A modular high voltage particle accelerator having an emission axis and an emission end, said accelerator comprising:

• a plurality of high voltage generators in nested adjacency to form a nested stack, each said generator comprising a cup-like housing having a base and a tubular sleeve extending from said base, said base and sleeve being an insulator, and having sufficient field strength and thickness to resist the voltage between its respective generator and its adjacent generator, said base and sleeve having spaced apart surfaces, a conductive member on each of said surfaces to form a Faraday shield, said conductive members having gaps of limited extent to provide for passage of magnetic flux, but still providing substantial electrostatic isolation of adjacent generators from one another, except for the outermost and innermost of them, each of said conductive members being common with two adjacent generators;
• a primary transformer winding encircling said nested stack;
• a secondary transformer winding between each adjacent pair of housings, magnetically linked to said primary transformer winding through said gaps;
• a power supply respective to each of said secondary windings converting alternating voltage from its respective secondary winding to d.c. voltage, each said transformer secondary winding and power supply thereby applying a d.c. voltage between two adjacent conductive members;
• said housings at said emission end forming a hollow throat for particle acceleration, said throat being tubular and axial, and including a peripheral conductive stage-ending member facing into said throat for each said housing, said stage-ending members being axially spaced apart and insulated from one another;
• a vacuum seal at the emission end of said throat which enables said throat to be evacuated;
• a particle source in said throat;
• and
• power means to energize said primary transformer winding.