Principle of Operation of Cyclotrons
Typically, cyclotrons operate by energizing particles which are then accelerated in a spiral path through a space which exists between two dee cylinders enclosed in a vacuum chamber. Notably, an equipotential condition defines the volume between the dee and the enclosing chamber. In addition to that, to achieve the desired acceleration potential for the ions, the volume of the dee is designed to lie between two magnetized poles to enable the magnetic field act on the ions effectively. The design restricts the ion movements to a circular and flat path. The potential difference experienced in the dee enables the ions to acquire higher acceleration speeds in their path (Sabaiduc, Du, Boiesan, Zhu, Suthanthiran, Johnson, Ladysmith, Gelbart & Conard, 6)
Identifiably, the beam particles originate from the center of the cyclotron iteratively acquiring more energy as the ions keep moving through the same path.
The projectiles of the accelerated particles enable the particles to gain more energy with each pass as the radius of the projectile increases. The path length of the ionized particle is related to the energy of the particle in the following mathematical equation.
