High voltage RF opto-electric multiplier for charge particle accelerations
AssigneeCompact Particle Acceleration Corporation
InventorsVladimir Andreevich Joshkin, Antonios Zografos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Circuitry is presented for use in the pulse-forming lines of compact linear accelerators of charged particles. This presents devices that can provide high-voltage radio-frequency pulses in the range of from a few volts to megavolts for charged particle accelerators. The devices can use as input an external charge voltage and an optical pulse to create output RF pulses with a peak voltage that is increased over the input voltage. The exemplary embodiment presents a circuit of pulse forming lines for compact linear accelerator that includes an opto-switch and RF transmission lines that form a pulse shaper and a ladder-like pulse multiplier unit, with or without an output shaper.
Claims24
A compact linear accelerator, comprising:
- one or more opto-electronic multipliers, each having a first electrode and a second electrode, the multipliers arranged one upon another alternating the multipliers' first and second electrodes along the axis of the accelerator, each of the opto-electric multipliers including:
- a switch section, having:
- a capacitor having a first terminal connected to receive and store a high voltage and a second terminal connected to ground/shield;
- and
- an optically activated switch including a first terminal connected to the first terminal of the capacitor to establish a high voltage gradient across the switch, and connectable to receive an optical signal and, in response thereto, supply an electromagnetic pulse at a second terminal of the switch;
- a pulse shaper having a first and a second transmission line elements connected to receive the output of the switch section, the first transmission line element connected to provide the output thereof;
- and
- a multiplier section having a plurality of transmission line transformers connected in a ladder-like arrangement, each receiving the output of the pulse shaper as bias voltage input and each transmission line transformer except the first of the ladder receiving as bias voltage input the output of the preceding transmission line transformer in the ladder, the output of the last of the transmission line transformers being connected to the first electrode, wherein the second electrode is connected to ground/shield.
A method of providing a high voltage pulse along the axis of a compact particle accelerator, comprising:
- charging a capacitor from a high voltage source;
- applying a optical pulse to an optical switch through which the capacitor is connected to a pulse shaping circuit;
- generating an electromagnetic pulse by the switch in response to the optical pulse;
- receiving the electromagnetic pulse from the switch at the pulse shaping circuit and shaping the electromagnetic pulse by use of first and second transmission lines connected to receive the output of the switch, the shaped pulse being provided from the first of the transmission lines thereof;
- receiving and amplifying the shaped pulse at a multiplying circuit, the multiplying circuit including a plurality of transmission lines connected in a ladder-like arrangement, each receiving the output of the pulse shaper as input and each transmission line transformer except the first of the ladder receiving as a bias input the output of the preceding transmission line transformer in the ladder;
- and
- applying the amplified pulse across a pair of electrodes along the axis of the accelerator, wherein the output of the last of the transmission line transformers in the ladder-like arrangement is connected to a first of the electrodes, and a second of the electrodes is connected to the ground/shield of the first transmission line transformer in the ladder like arrangement.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.