WHAT IS A PARTICLE ACCELERATOR?

Why is it that High-Energy Physicists seem to have a penchant for smashing things? Imagine
you have a clock, and you’re interested in finding out what’s inside and how it works, in much
the same way that High-Energy Physicists are interested in finding out the inner workings of sub
atomic particles. The obvious solution is to grab a screwdriver and open up the clock. But what
if that clock is very small, smaller even than any screwdriver it is possible to make? The only
way now to open up this tiny clock is to grab a hammer, smash it, study what comes out and try
and piece the clock back together to figure out its inner workings. This is essentially what is
being done by High-Energy Physicists around the world as they smash subatomic particle into
their most fundamental parts using the world’s largest hammers, particle accelerators.
Particle accelerators are all based on the simple idea that a charged particle in a potential
difference (voltage) will be accelerated across that potential difference. This acceleration is
analogous to the acceleration of a mass as it falls towards the earth when dropped. One could
think of the acceleration of a charged particle in a potential difference as the particle ‘falling’
through a potential difference.
In 1911 Ernest Rutherford discovered the atomic nucleus in an experiment where he fired a
beam of alpha particles, emitted by the radioactive decay of Radon, at a Gold foil. In a speech
to the Royal Society of London in 1927, Rutherford challenged the scientific community to
accelerate charged particles to energies greater than that of natural radioactive decay in order
to disintegrate atomic nuclei. It took many years for Rutherford’s challenge to be met and one of
the first major breakthroughs came from two scientists from the Cavendish Laboratory in
Cambridge, John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, who, using their particle accelerator to
accelerate protons, were able to disintegrate a Lithium nucleus. Since the first accelerators were
developed, particle accelerators have taken many forms to overcome the various hurdles that
High-Energy Physicists have encountered on their quest for ever more powerful collisions.

TYPES OF ACCELERATORS
Particle accelerators can be split into two fundamental types, electrostatic accelerators and
oscillating field accelerators. Electrostatic accelerators, such as the Cockcroft-Walton
accelerator and the Van de Graff accelerator make use of what is known as an electrostatic
field. Electrostatic fields are simply electric fields that do not change with time. The main
disadvantage of using electrostatic fields is that very large electric fields need to be generated to
accelerate particles to experimentally useful energies, which would be difficult and dangerous to
maintain. This disadvantage led to the development of the second type of accelerator: the
oscillating field accelerator. This type of accelerator requires electric fields that periodically
change with time. Clever use of this oscillating electric field has allowed high energy physicists
to accelerate particles to extremely high energies, leading to many key discoveries that shape
our view of the universe. Main categories of particle accelerators are detailed below:

The Cockcroft-Walton and Van de Graaff Accelerators

These accelerators are two types of particle accelerators developed in the early 1930’s, the
Cockcroft-Walton accelerator was developed by John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton at the
Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, and the Van de Graaff Accelerator was
developed by Robert Van de Graaff whilst working as a post-doctorate research assistant at
Princeton in the US. Both accelerators simply accelerated charged particles by generating very
high voltages. The Cockcroft-Walton accelerator generated a high voltage by creating a
complex electrical circuit called a voltage multiplier cascade, which became known as
Cockcroft-Walton generator. Using their generator, Cockcroft & Walton were able to generate a
voltage of 800kV (800,000V).

This voltage then accelerated protons

along an 8 foot vacuum tube, where they
then collided with a Lithium target
achieving the first artificial nuclear
disintegration in history. Cockcroft-Walton
generators are still used in particle
accelerators today for the initial
acceleration of particles before they go on
to larger accelerators.

The Linear Accelerator (Linac)

The first development in Linear Accelerators came from Rolf Widerøe in 1927 when he built a
linear accelerator using an alternating current (AC) voltage and a series of drift tubes. In an
alternating current, the flow of electric charge is periodically reversed, the flow of electric charge
can be thought of as a series of peaks and anti-peaks of voltage. A charged particle acted on by
an AC voltage would be accelerated from point X to point Y, during a peak, then when the
current is reversed would be accelerated back from point Y to point X, during an anti-peak.

The Cyclotron
In 1928 Ernest Lawrence of the University of California, inspired by the work of Widerøe, had
the idea of utilizing a curved path for a particle accelerator. A magnetic field perpendicular to the
plane of motion of an accelerated particle will result in the particle taking a curved path. By
studying the simple relationship between the forces acting on the particle, Lawrence realised
that the increase in the radius of the path taken by the particle is compensated for by the
increased velocity of the particle if the magnetic field, the charge of the particle and the particles
mass remain constant. With this in mind, he built what became known as a Cyclotron. It
consisted of two hollow D-shaped electrodes alternatively charged to a voltage by an oscillator.
The electrodes were separated by a small gap. When one of the electrodes is charged, a
particle is accelerated across the gap into the other, where, under the influence of a magnetic
field, it moves in a semi-circular path back to the surface of the electrode.

THE BETATRON
The Betatron consists of a main ring, a doughnut shaped vacuum chamber, known as the
doughnut chamber (3), in which electrons (2 & 5), produced by an electron gun (1) within the
chamber, are accelerated. The chamber is set up between the two poles of an electromagnet
driven by an AC current which results in a constantly changing magnetic field. The changing
magnetic field means a changing magnetic flux (a component of the magnetic field passing
through an area) across the doughnut chamber which produces an electromotive force (6)
which will accelerate the electrons.

The Microtron
The Microtron is a particle accelerator similar to the Cyclotron. However, the physics governing
the design of the Cyclotron is based on classical mechanics (the physical laws describing slow
moving objects relative to the speed of light). This placed an upper limit on the energy that
particles can be accelerated to of 25MeV, as due to the effects of relativity (as described by
Albert Einstein), the mass of particles approaching the speed of light changes. In 1945 Vladimir
Veksler invented an accelerator which by taking into account this change in mass could
accelerate light particles like electrons beyond this upper limit that became known as a
Microtron.
HOW DOES AN ACCELERATOR WORK?
Particle accelerators use electric fields to speed up and increase the energy of a beam of
particles, which are steered and focused by magnetic fields. The particle source provides the
particles, such as protons or electrons that are to be accelerated. The beam of particles travels
inside a vacuum in the metal beam pipe. The vacuum is crucial to maintaining an air and dust
free environment for the beam of particles to travel unobstructed. Electromagnets steer and
focus the beam of particles while it travels through the vacuum tube. Electric fields spaced
around the accelerator switch from positive to negative at a given frequency, creating radio
waves that accelerate particles in bunches. Particles can be directed at a fixed target, such as a
thin piece of metal foil, or two beams of particles can be collided. Particle detectors record and
reveal the particles and radiation that are produced by the collision between a beam of particles
and the target.

How have accelerators contributed to basic science?

Particle accelerators are essential tools of discovery for particle and nuclear physics
and for sciences that use x-rays and neutrons, a type of neutral subatomic particle.

Particle physics, also called high-energy physics, asks basic questions about the universe. With
particle accelerators as their primary scientific tools, particle physicists have achieved a
profound understanding of the fundamental particles and physical laws that govern matter,
energy, space and time.

Over the last four decades, light sources -- accelerators producing photons, the subatomic
particle responsible for electromagnetic radiation -- and the sciences that use them have made
dramatic advances that cut across many fields of research. Today, there are now about 10,000
scientists in the United States using x-ray beams for research in physics and chemistry, biology
and medicine, Earth sciences, and many more aspects of materials science and development.

ACCELERATORS DEVELOPMENT IN
INDIA
THE history of accelerators in India goes back to the development of a 38 inch cyclotron at the
Calcutta-based Institute of Nuclear Physics (now called Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics) in
1940 by Meghnad Saha. However, construction of the 224 cm Variable Energy Cyclotron (VEC)
at Kolkata by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) during 1970–77 ushered in the era of
building large and modern accelerators in India. Raja Ramanna was the main motivating force
behind this bold initiative aimed at creating a frontline accelerator facility for nuclear physics
research by the Indian scientists. Prior to that, a few low-energy machines, including a 2 MV
Van de Graaff at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K), small cyclotron at Panjab
University and a 5.5 MV Van de Graaff at BARC were available for this purpose. The design of
the VEC was adopted from similar machines operating at Berkeley and College Station (Texas)
in USA. But the important fact is that it was constructed in India by an Indian team. This
machine has been providing ion beams for over 35 years and it is still in operation at the VEC
Centre (VECC) at Kolkata. It accelerates beams of protons, deuterons, alphas and heavy ions
with maximum energy of about 25 MeV per nucleon. A large number of VEC users also belong
to other areas such as materials science, radiochemistry, analytical chemistry, isotope
production, radiation physics, biology, etc. It is a national facility available to the
experimentalists from various R&D institutions and universities of the country. Development of
the tandem Van de Graaff-type accelerators for medium-energy ion acceleration for nuclear
physics research was emphasized in the mid-sixties when the Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) took the decision to construct the VEC. Therefore, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
(BARC), Mumbai took up a project to indigenously design and construct a 2 MV tandem
accelerator. It was operated in 1982 to deliver the beam. A similar machine was also
constructed at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam.
Construction of the VEC generated enormous confidence among both accelerator builders as
well as industry in the field of accelerator technology. Equally important was the creation of a
competent group of experts in this field who could take up still bigger challenges. After intense
deliberations involving a large community of scientists at the national level, DAE took a bigger
step in the mid-80s to start design and construction, once again indigenously, of a complex of
electron storage rings Indus-1 (450 MeV) and Indus-2 (2.5 GeV) along with the injectors of
various types at the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT); formerly
Centre for Advanced Technology, at Indore. The motivation in this case was to utilize the
synchrotron radiation for basic and applied research in condensed matter physics, materials
science, biology, etc.

ACCELERATORS IN INDIA

1. IUAC
Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) was set-up by the University Grants Commission as
the first Inter-University Centre (IUC) called Nuclear Science Centre after due approval of the
Planning Commission and the Prime Minister in October, 1984. Its construction started in
December, 1986 and completed in time on December 19, 1990. The Centre became a national
user facility on July 8, 1991 after a series of beam tests and optimization of the operating
parameters of the India's largest tandem accelerator (15UD PELLETRON). It added
subsequently other accelerators like Superconducting Linear Accelerator (SC-LINAC) using
Niobium Quarter Wave Resonators (QWRs), 1.7MV Pelletron Accelerator, Electron Cyclotron
Resonance (ECR) ion source based Low Energy Ion Beam Facility (LEIBF). The first
Radioactive Ion Beam Facility of the country has been established using the Heavy Ion Recoil
Analyser (HIRA). World's first High Temperature Superconductor ECR ion source (HTS-
ECRIS known as PKDELIS) has been developed and made fully operational at IUAC for
various experiments. The Centre has been developing High Current Injector (HCI) using HTS-
ECRIS, Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ), Drift Tube Linac (DTL) and Low Beta QWRs as
an alternate injector of existing SC-LINAC. The expertise developed in building advanced
research instruments at IUAC has been recognized internationally.

1.1 15 UD PELLETRON
The 15 UD Pelletron is a versatile, heavy ion tandem type of electrostatic accelerator. In this
machine, negative ions are produced and reaccelerated to ~300KeV in Ion Source and injected
into strong Electrical field inside an accelerator tank filled with SF6 insulating gas. At the centre
of the tank is a terminal shell which is maintained at a high voltage (~15 MV).The negative ions
on traversing through the accelerating tubes from the column top of the tank to the positive
terminal gets accelerated. On reaching the terminal they pass through a stripper which
removes some electrons from the negative ions, thus transforming the negative ions into
positive ions. These positive ions are then repelled away from the positively charged terminal
and are accelerated to ground potential to the bottom of the tank. In this manner same
terminal potential is used twice to accelerate the ions. On exiting from the tank, the ions are
bent into horizontal plane by analyzing magnet, which also select a particular beam of ion.
1.2 SUPERCONDUCTING LINAC
The accelerating structure for the superconducting linac booster for the 15 UD Pelletron at IUAC is a
Niobium Quarter Wave Resonator, designed and fabricated as a joint collaboration
between IUAC and ANL, USA. Initial resonators required for the first linac module were fabricated at ANL.
For fabrication of resonators required for future modules a Superconducting Resonator Fabrication
Facility has been set up at IUAC. Three quarter wave resonator (QWR) have been fabricated and fifteen
more resonators for the second and third linac modules are in advanced stage of completion.

1.3 PELLETRON ACCELERATOR RBS-AMS SYSTEMS (PARAS)

Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) facility with 1.7 Million Volt Pelletron accelerator has been
installed at IUAC. The facility is equipped with :
 Alphatross ion source for producing negatively charged He and H ions.
 1.7MV 5SDH-2 Pelletron accelerator
 Charles Evans and Associate make 4 − axis goniometer (model name RBS-400)
Surface barrier detector measure the number and energy of ions backscattered after colliding with atoms
of the sample enabling us to determine atomic mass and elemental concentration versus depth below the
surface..

2. 4 MeV 400 RAD STANDING WAVE LINAC AT

BOMBAY, TIFR
The Pelletron Accelerator, set up as a collaborative project between the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, has been serving as a major
facility for heavy ion accelerator based research in India since its commissioning in December
1988. Several advanced experimental facilities have also been established at this centre to
pursue research in nuclear, atomic, condensed matter physics and interdisciplinary areas. A
number of application based research programmes have also been taken up using this
accelerator. The research work in nuclear physics, which forms the main thrust of activities at
this facility, covers areas of nuclear structure studies at high angular momentum and excitation
energies and the heavy ion reaction dynamics. The accelerator has now completed 28 years of
successful operation, catering to a large community of scientists in the country. While the
majority of the researchers at this facility are from BARC and TIFR, the experimental community
encompasses scientists and students from other research centres and universities within and
outside the country. These past years have been scientifically stimulating and very productive.
More than 130 Ph.D. theses and over 700 publications in refereed international journals
including 19 publications in Physical Review Letters have resulted from the research activities in
this laboratory.The accelerator has performed exceedingly well delivering beams ranging from
proton to Iodine and has completed 25 years of operation Various modifications to improve the
performance of the Pelletron accelerator have been implemented. A superconducting linear
accelerator has been indigenously developed to boost the energy of heavy ion beams delivered
by the Pelletron accelerator. The superconducting LINAC booster phase I consisting of three
accelerating modules was commissioned in 2002. In July 2007, Silicon ions were accelerated
using all seven modules and were transported to the experimental stations in the first user hall.
The performance was excellent with an average energy gain per cavity of 0.4 MV/q
corresponding to 80% of the design value. This national facility was dedicated to users on 28th
November 2007 and has been routinely operational since then. Development of the
superconducting LINAC is a major milestone in the accelerator technology in our country. Most
of the critical components of the LINAC booster, the first superconducting heavy ion accelerator
in India, have been designed, developed and fabricated indigenously.

LINAC PHASE - I

LINAC PHASE - II
 3. RAJA RAMANNA CENTRE FOR ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY
Two SR sources namely Indus-1 (450 MeV electron storage ring) and Indus-2 (2.5 GeV
electron storage ring) are housed in RRCAT. A beam dynamics based lattice design of these
SR sources along with their common injector namely booster synchrotron was evolved. The
design study of the lattice is being carried out using various computational code named as
MAD, ORBIT, AT and RACETRACK. Apart from the lattice design, study of beam injection,
extraction and study of different beam instabilities are also been carried out. These studies are
made using the centralized scientific computing servers (BETA, CHI, DELTA, and AMOGH) and
scientific computing clusters (KSHITIJ) at RRCAT. These simulations help in finalizing the
design and tolerances of various component of the accelerator. These radiation sources have
been commissioned successfully and being operated near to the design beam parameter. Both
the sources Indus-1 & Indus-2 are now operational in round the clock mode since Feb 2010.
Most of the members of our section had undergone the rigorous training and qualification tests
for the operation of these sources and contributing as beam physicists for reliable and smooth
operation. Indus-2 is successfully operated with a beam current of ~200 mA at 2.5 GeV.
Specification of two planer undulators U1& U2 and one helical undulator U3 were
evolved using beam dynamics simulation in Indus-2. With the designed specifications,
these magnets are installed and commissioned. All three undulators have been
successfully operated with the beam in Indus-2. Their effects on electron beam are
measured and found to be in good agreement with the model predictions. Both the
planer undulators U1 & U2 are operated with stored beam current of 150 mA and
Apple-II undulator (U3) was operated with 100 mA at 2.5 GeV as shown below:

Indus 1
 4. VARIABLE ENERGY CYCLOTRON CENTRE,
KOLKATA
4.1 224 CM VARIABLE ENERGY CYCLOTRON 1977, VECC
4.2 SUPERCONDUCTING CYCLOTRON 2009, VECC

The Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) at Kolkata indigenously developed the first
large accelerator in the country, the room temperature cyclotron K-130 during seventies
which is still delivering ions beams to the users spread all over the country for research in
nuclear science and applied physics. VECC, with its vast experience and expertise in
accelerator technology, took up the challenging task of constructing the first
superconducting cyclotron in the country the K500 superconducting cyclotron. It has
also been commissioned with internal beam. The problems associated with getting the
external beam are analyzed in detail since last one year and some of them are fixed. Efforts
are on to get external beam from the K500 cyclotron and it is expected that soon it will also
deliver beams to the users. In order to study structure of unstable nuclei that are very
neutron rich or proton rich, an ISOL based RIB facility is under-development at VECC.
Several components of this facility have already been tested and installed. VECC is also
working on to build a world class national accelerator facility called ANURIB (Advanced
National facility for Unstable and Rare Isotope Beams) at the new campus in Kolkata. This
facility will serve a wide user community in nuclear and material sciences. VECC is also
setting up a medical cyclotron to produce proton beam with energy up to 30 MeV and
current up to 350 μA, to produce various isotopes for medical applications. This cyclotron
will also be used for R and D in material science and to settle the various problems related
with handling of high beam current on ADS related components. Apart from these main
facilities VECC is also involved in the R and D activities related with accelerators such as
studies on using cyclotrons to achieve high power proton beam, development and testing of
superconducting cavities, development of superconducting magnets for FAIR project .
 APPLICATIONS OF ACCELERATORS
1. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
Ion implantation for electronics (semi-conductor materials)

Semiconductors are one of the key components of almost all electrical devices from mobile
phones to desktop computers. They are materials that conduct a small amount of electricity,
more than an insulator but less than a conductor, hence the name. Semiconductors are usually
made from silicon - sometimes germanium - that has been doped. Doping is the process of
adding impurities to the silicon so that an electric current flows through the material (silicon
crystal is an insulator). The doping of silicon is done by a process known as ion implantation. In
this process, a beam of ions is fired at a target material. The ions then penetrate, and come to
rest within the material at a penetration depth related to the energy of the beam. The
development of ion implantation technology leads to better and cheaper semiconductor
production, which in turn drives down the cost of electronics and improves the quality of the
product.

Ion implantation for hardening surfaces (metals, ceramics and biomaterials)

In addition to being used in the production of semiconductors, ion implantation can also be used
to harden surfaces. When used for surface hardening, the ions of the doping agent material are
fired at the target material and only penetrate the material a very short distance, essentially
remaining at the surface of the material. Ions are chosen that will complement the atomic
structure of the target material, making it stronger. This process is used to create hard surfaces
for materials that are used for example in objects like artificial heart valves and other prosthetic
implants. (See also section on health and medicine).

Electron Beam Machining (EBM)

Electron beam machining (EBM) is similar to EBW insofar as electrons are accelerated to high
velocities and focused into a beam. The electron beam is then focused onto a metal, the
electrons collide with the metal and the kinetic energy of the electrons is converted to heat. The
difference between EBM and EBW is the energy of the electron beam: it is significantly higher in
EBM than in EBW so that the metal evaporates, whereas EBW melts the metal. This means that
EBM can be used to either, cut, or drill through a metal rather than fuse two pieces of metal.
EBM is used to drill holes in the manufacture of air craft engines and nuclear reactor pressure
differential devices, and to aid in the etching of microprocessors for the electronics industry.

2. MEDICAL APPLICATION
Treating Cancer
One of the most important of all applications of particle accelerators is their application in the
treatment of cancer. Cancer takes on many forms, so the treatment for cancer must also take
on many forms. The main types of cancer treatment are: 1.surgery, where the cancerous tissue
is surgically removed, 2.chemotherapy, where powerful cancer-killing medicine is given to the
patient, 3.radiotherapy, where the cancer is destroyed by energy deposited by radiation.
Accelerator based treatments fall into the category of radiation therapy. Presently about 50% of
all patients with cancer will undergo radiation therapy often in conjunction with other treatments
such as chemotherapy or surgery. The most common form of radiation therapy is external beam
radiotherapy where a beam of radiation is fired into the body by a particle accelerator.

Medical Imaging
Medical imaging is an incredibly important area of medicine with applications in both diagnosis
and research. Most of us will have an image of some part of our body taken for diagnosis in our
lifetime, whether it is an X-ray image of our teeth at the dentist’s or a full body Magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The role of accelerators directly (as an X-ray source for
radiography) and indirectly (in the development of the physical principles behind MRI imaging)
on the development of new imaging techniques cannot be overstated.

3. ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT APPLICATION

Cleaning Flue Gases from Thermal Power Plants

Small electron accelerators can be used to reduce the amount of harmful gaseous emissions
pumped into the atmosphere by thermal power plants. Similar technologies can be applied to
water treatment plants to clean waste water.

Oil and Gas Exploration

Oil and gas plays a crucial role in our everyday life for example, it is used to generate the
electricity used in our homes or for producing the fuel for our cars. Other everyday products
made from oil are computers and phones (plastic parts), hand sanitizer, cosmetics, painkillers
and vitamins, detergents. Oil products are even added to our food. As old oil wells are depleted,
new wells need to be found along with more effective ways to extract oil and gas. Accelerators
play a role in this work.

Unclogging oil pipelines

In oil pipelines, substances called asphaltenes can form, causing blockages in the pipes. Until
recently, little was known about the formation of these substances. Research carried out at the
ISIS neutron source at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford has helped researchers
increase their understanding of how asphaltenes form inside pipelines, potentially allowing the
development of techniques to prevent their formation.
PHYSICS PROJECT

BSC- III (COMPUTER APPLICATIONS)

SESSION – 2017-18

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

POONAM JAIN MEGHNA

ROLL NO. – 2834

poo