Cyclotron

This post is from my own research during my study at BAU, it is about a type of accelerators.

The first cyclotron was developed and patented by Ernest Lawrence in 1932 at the University of California, Berkeley. A graduate student, M. Stanley Livingston, did much of the work of translating the idea into working hardware. At the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley Lawrence constructed a series of cyclotrons which were the most powerful accelerators in the world at the time; a 69 cm (27 in) 4.8 MeV machine (1932), a 94 cm (37 in) 8 MeV machine (1937), and a 152 cm (60 in) 16 MeV machine (1939). Lawrence received the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for this work.

Construction

It consists of a hollow metal cylinder divided into two sections D1 and D2 called Dees, enclosed in an evacuated chamber. The Dees are kept separated and a source of ions is placed at the center in the gap between the Dees. They are placed between the pole pieces of a strong electromagnet. The magnetic field acts perpendicular to the plane of the Dees. The Dees are connected to a high frequency oscillator.

Application In medicine

Cyclotrons can also be used to treat cancer. Ion beams from cyclotrons can be used, as in proton therapy, to penetrate the body and kill tumors by radiation damage, while minimizing damage to healthy tissue along their path. The PET/CT machines rely on positron-emitting fluorine-18,which is a drug, that contain radioactive nuclei which undergo beta decay by the emission of positrons.
It is produced by proton cyclotrons and are used for imaging and study of organ function.