GB1073948A - Particle accelerating tubes - Google Patents

Abstract

1,073,948. Particle decelerators. TOKYO SHIBAURA ELECTRIC CO. Ltd. Sept. 2, 1964 [Sept. 5, 1963; Sept. 27, 1963; Sept. 30, 1963; Oct. 15, 1963], No. 36023/64. Heading H1D. A particle accelerating tube includes an insulating cylinder defining a first air-tight chamber and having evacuation means connected thereto and containing an assembly of accelerating electrodes aligned along an axis parallel to that of the cylinder, together with a source of particles to be accelerated disposed outside the air-tight chamber but inside the insulating cylinder, and a target mounted in a second air-tight chamber, an aperture for the passage of the charged particles providing communication between the two air-tight chambers. The accelerator tube (Fig. 2, not shown) of a neutron generator, Fig. 1, is formed by a laminated or moulded cylindrical stack of apertured aluminium discs (31) clamped between annular insulators (37) which house sections of a potentiometer (38) from which the voltage for the discs is tapped. The complete stack is mounted in an evacuated chamber 20, Fig. 1, formed by insulating cylinder 21 and metal end plates 24 and 25, which support a target 27 in a holder 28, and a deuteron source 4 and insulated terminal 30 for the focusing electrode 29, respectively, the whole being evacuated by pumping system 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d. The electrical supplies are mounted in housing 5, which in an alternative embodiment (Fig. 7, not shown) is formed by an extension of the insulating tube 21; the housing may also contain an electromagnetic shield, a deuterium supply for source 4, and a cooling fan, and may be filled with an inert gas or insulating liquid (Fig. 8, not shown). A further embodiment (Fig. 9, not shown) includes two parallel accelerator stacks mounted within a single insulating tube, one or both of which stacks may be provided with an electron gun rather than an ion source, to permit the production of X-rays in addition to neutrons.