Three-Hundred-Mev Nonferromagnetic Electron Synchrotron

Abstract

An electron synchrotron, capable of accelerating electrons to energies of 300 Mev, which has been in operation for some time at the Research Laboratory, General Electric Company, is described. This machine uses no iron to produce the magnetic guide field. Electrons are injected at an energy of 100 kev, accelerated to 4 Mev by betatron action, and to 300 Mev by synchrotron action. The magnetic fields for the betatron and synchrotron guide fields are produced directly by large currents flowing in coils suitably disposed near the electron orbit. The orbit diameter is 48 in. and a field of 16 000 oersteds at the orbit is produced by a current pulse with an amplitude of 26 000 amperes. The entire coil system, together with the radio-frequency resonator and injector, is located in a vacuum. The repetition frequency is 15 pulses/sec, and the x-ray beam from an internal target has an intensity of about 2×1010 equivalent quanta/min through a collimator which transmits about 60% of the total beam.