The Rhodotrons : A New Range Of High Energy / High Power Industrial Accelerators For EB Processing

The Rhodotron is a new concept of CW electron accelerators, based on the principle of
"recirculating" a beam through successive diameters of a single coaxial cavity
resonating in metric waves. This design makes it possible to achieve CW acceleration
of electron beams to high energies.

The original design principle of the Rhodotron was first proposed in 1989 by J. Pottier
from the French Atomic Energy Agency (CEA), who suggested the use of a halfwavelength
coaxial cavity, shorted at both ends to accelerate electrons.

The principle of operation of the Rhodotron has already been described in length in
previous articles (1,3,4,5,6). The feasibility of this new technology has been proven by
the French researchers who built a first laboratory prototype (2). In this machine, the
beam is accelerated up to 3.5 MeV, with a average power of about 15 kW (beam
intensity of 4 mA).