System, apparatus and method for deflecting a particle beam

A system comprising:

• at least six electromagnetic portions disposed on a plane, each of said at least six electromagnetic portions being aligned with a radius emanating from an axis normal to said plane and being distanced from said axis to form a volume about said axis;
• at least six coils being configured for generating a dipole magnetic field in said volume in response to electrical current patterns applied to physically opposing coils, said dipole magnetic field comprising vectors being generally equal in magnitude with a same direction of orientation on said plane traversing said axis, said orientation being rotatable about said axis in response to a change in said current patterns to deflect a particle beam entering said volume in a direction away from said axis, each of said at least six coils being disposed about a one of said at least six electromagnetic portions;
• a yoke structure being configured for returning a generated magnetic flux;
• a plurality of power amplifiers for supplying said electrical current patterns;
• a control system for monitoring and controlling operations of said power amplifiers;
• and
• a power supply for powering at least said power amplifiers and said control system.

A method comprising steps of:

• arranging at least six electromagnetic portions of a multi-pole electromagnet to be disposed on a plane where each of said at least six electromagnetic portions are aligned with a radius emanating from an axis normal to said plane and are distanced from said axis to form a volume about said axis;
• configuring at least six coils for generating a dipole magnetic field in said volume in response to electrical current patterns comprising sinusoidal components being applied to physically opposing coils, said dipole magnetic field comprising vectors being generally equal in magnitude with a same direction of orientation on said plane traversing said axis, said orientation being rotatable about said axis in response to a change in said current patterns;
• and
• exciting said at least six coils with said current patterns for rotating said dipole magnetic field to deflect a particle beam entering said volume to a desired position away from said axis.