An exciter for a high frequency resonator. The exciter may include an exciter coil inner portion, extending along an exciter axis, an exciter coil loop, disposed at a distal end of the exciter coil inner portion. The exciter may also include a drive mechanism, including at least a rotation component to rotate the exciter coil loop around the exciter axis.

A method of operating an acceleration system comprises injecting charged particles into an RF accelerator, providing RF power to the accelerator, and accelerating the injected charged particles. The accelerated charged particles may impact a target to generate radiation. The RF power is based, at least in part, on past performance of the system, to compensate, at least partially, for dose and/or energy instability. A controller may provide a compensated control voltage (“CCV”) to an electric power source based on the past performance, to provide compensated electric power to the RF source. A decreasing CCV, such as an exponentially decreasing CCV, may be provided to the electric power source during beam on time periods. The CCV to be provided may be increased, such as exponentially increased toward a maximum value, during beam off time periods. The controller may be configured by a compensation circuit and/or software. Systems are also described.

A particle accelerator system including a particle accelerator that accelerates charged particles, a signal source that outputs high frequency power for accelerating the charged particles in the particle accelerator, an amplifying unit that amplifies the high frequency power from the signal source, and supplies the high frequency power to the particle accelerator, the amplifying unit including a plurality of semiconductor amplifiers using a semiconductor, and a control unit that controls an operation of the amplifying unit. The control unit controls output of at least one of the plurality of semiconductor amplifiers.

A method is for closed-loop control of an X-ray pulse chain generated via a linear accelerator system. In an embodiment, the method includes modulating a first electron beam within a first radio-frequency pulse duration, wherein the first multiple amplitude X-ray pulse is produced on modulating the first electron beam; measuring time-resolved actual values of the first multiple amplitude X-ray pulse; adjusting at least one pulse parameter as a function of a comparison of the specified multiple amplitude X-ray pulse profile and the measured time-resolved actual values; and modulating a second electron beam within a second radio-frequency pulse duration as a function of the at least one adjusted pulse parameter for production of the second multiple amplitude X-ray pulse, so the X-ray pulse chain is controlled.

Embodiments of the disclosed system and method provide for generating a multiple-energy X-ray pulse. A beam of electrons is generated with an electron gun and modulated prior to injection into an accelerating structure to achieve at least a first and second specified beam current amplitude over the course of respective beam current temporal profiles. A radio frequency field is applied to the accelerating structure with a specified RF field amplitude and a specified RF temporal profile. The first and second specified beam current amplitudes are injected serially, each after a specified delay, in such a manner as to achieve at least two distinct energies of electrons accelerated within the accelerating structure during a course of a single RF-pulse. The beam of electrons is accelerated by the radio frequency field within the accelerating structure to produce accelerated electrons which impinge upon a target for generating Bremsstrahlung X-rays.

An accelerator 4 includes a circular vacuum container including circular return yokes 5A, 5B. An injection electrode 18 is disposed closer to an inlet of a beam extraction path 20 in the return yoke 5B than a central axis C of the vacuum container. Magnetic poles 7A to 7F are radially disposed from the injection electrode 18 at the periphery of the injection electrode 18 in the return yoke 5B. Recessions 29A to 29F are disposed alternately with the magnetic poles 7A to 7F in the circumferential direction of the return yoke 5B. In the vacuum container, a concentric trajectory region, in which multiple beam turning trajectories centered around the injection electrode 18 are present, is formed, and an eccentric trajectory region, in which multiple beam turning trajectories eccentric from the injection electrode 18 are present, is formed around the region.

A linac-based X-ray system for cargo scanning and imaging applications uses linac design, RF power control, beam current control, and beam current pulse duration control to provide stable sequences of pulses having different energy levels or different doses.

A particle accelerator for creation of a bunched particle beam and a method for the operation of such a particle accelerator are provided, wherein the particle accelerator includes an HF source and a directional coupler for splitting HF power of the HF source of an HF side into at least a first and a second HF power coupler of a cavity side for coupling in the HF power into at least one accelerator cavity. A. non-reciprocal phase shifter is inserted on the cavity side between the directional coupler and the second HF power coupler, and an HF load is connected on the HF side to the directional coupler, where the non-reciprocal phase shifter is configured to pass a reflected HF wave of the second HF power coupler with phase delay in the direction of the directional coupler in such a way that a destructive interference of the reflected HF waves of the first and second power couplets occurs in the directional coupler in the direction of the source on the HF side.

A system and method of operating a magnetron power source can achieve a broad range of output power control by operating a magnetron with its cathode voltage lower than that needed for free running oscillations (e.g., below the Kapitsa critical voltage or equivalently below the Hartree voltage) A sufficiently strong injection-locking signal enables the output power to be coherently generated and to be controlled over a broad power range by small changes in the cathode voltage. In one embodiment, the present system and method is used for a practical, single, frequency-locked 2-magnetron system design.

Methods and apparatus are provided for generating an amplified pulsed radio frequency (RF) signal used by a particle accelerator. The particle accelerator can generate an attenuation profile. The particle accelerator can determine a waveform and a duration for a pulsed RF signal based on the attenuation profile. The particle accelerator can generate the pulsed RF signal having the waveform and the duration. The particle accelerator can generate an amplified pulsed RF signal using one or more amplifiers of the particle accelerator. The amplifiers can include a pulse forming network (PFN), where the PFN can include a plurality of stages and a plurality of PFN switches, and where PFN stage can include one or more capacitors and inductors. The PFN switches can control the PFN stages. The duration of the amplified pulsed RF signal can be based on settings of the plurality of PFN switches.