Electrostatic particle accelerator

An electrostatic particle accelerator is a <a href="/facts/Particle_accelerator/Pkuc08xC">particle accelerator</a> in which <a href="/facts/Charged_particle/2zqBJGse">charged particles</a> are accelerated to a high energy by a static <a href="/facts/High_voltage/lUy99k3E">high voltage</a> potential. The reason that only charged particles can be accelerated is that only charged particles are influenced by an electric field, according to the formula F=qE, which causes them to move. This contrasts with the other major category of particle accelerator, <a href="/facts/Particle_accelerator/Pkuc08xC">oscillating field particle accelerators</a>, in which the particles are accelerated by oscillating electric fields.
Owing to their simpler design, electrostatic types were the first particle accelerators. The two most common types are the <a href="/facts/Van_de_Graaf_generator/33gA1Ua7">Van de Graaf generator</a> invented by <a href="/facts/Robert_Van_de_Graaff/0gB5XXh3">Robert Van de Graaff</a> in 1929, and the <a href="/facts/Cockcroft-Walton_accelerator/2zIWAtRV">Cockcroft-Walton accelerator</a> invented by <a href="/facts/John_Cockcroft/Is5qGyKV">John Cockcroft</a> and <a href="/facts/Ernest_Walton/97mCDtyU">Ernest Walton</a> in 1932. The maximum particle energy produced by electrostatic accelerators is limited by the maximum voltage which can be achieved the machine. This is in turn limited by <a href="/facts/Electrical_breakdown/btrl0FPI">insulation breakdown</a> to a few <a href="/facts/Volt/KF18MXP2">megavolts</a>. Oscillating accelerators do not have this limitation, so they can achieve higher particle energies than electrostatic machines.
The advantages of electrostatic accelerators over oscillating field machines include lower cost, the ability to produce continuous beams, and higher beam currents that make them useful to industry. As such, they are by far the most widely used particle accelerators, with industrial applications such as plastic <a href="/facts/Shrink_wrap/zErUmBYt">shrink wrap</a> production, high power <a href="/facts/X-ray_machine/BUuA5JSl">X-ray machines</a>, <a href="/facts/Radiation_therapy/j60q5EC6">radiation therapy</a> in medicine, <a href="/facts/Radioisotope/5WpCfbdq">radioisotope</a> production, <a href="/facts/Ion_implanter/PHMokNUf">ion implanters</a> in semiconductor production, and sterilization. Many universities worldwide have electrostatic accelerators for research purposes. High energy oscillating field accelerators usually incorporate an electrostatic machine as their first stage, to accelerate particles to a high enough velocity to inject into the main accelerator.

Electrostatic particle accelerator open-in-new

Electrostatic particle accelerator