Matching a resonant frequency of a resonant cavity to a frequency of an input voltage

Abstract

A synchrocyclotron includes magnetic structures that define a resonant cavity, a source to provide particles to the resonant cavity, a voltage source to provide radio frequency (RF) voltage to the resonant cavity, a phase detector to detect a difference in phase between the RF voltage and a resonant frequency of the resonant cavity that changes over time, and a control circuit, responsive to the difference in phase, to control the voltage source so that a frequency of the RF voltage substantially matches the resonant frequency of the resonant cavity.

Description

technical field

[0001] This patent application describes matching the resonant frequency of a resonant cavity to the frequency of the voltage input to the resonant cavity. Background technique

[0002] To accelerate charged particles to high energies, many types of particle accelerators have been developed. One type of particle accelerator is a cyclotron. A cyclotron accelerates charged particles in an axial magnetic field by applying an alternating voltage to one or more dees in a vacuum chamber. The name "D-shaped electrodes" is a description of the shape of the electrodes in early cyclotrons, although in some cyclotrons they may not resemble the letter D. The spiral tracks created by the accelerated particles are perpendicular to the magnetic field. As the particles spiral outward, an accelerating electric field is applied at the gap between the dees. A radio frequency (RF) voltage generates an alternating electric field across the gap between the dees. The RF voltag...

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