cyclotron
(ˈsaɪklətrɒn)
[f. cyclo- + -tron.]
An apparatus for accelerating charged atomic particles by subjecting them repeatedly to a (usu. horizontal) electric field as they revolve in orbits of increasing diameter in a constant (usu. vertical) magnetic field.
| 1935 E. O. Lawrence et al. in Physical Rev. XLVIII. 495/2 An apparatus of the type developed by Lawrence and Livingston was used to produce a beam of high speed deuterons... Since we shall have many occasions in the future to refer to this apparatus, we feel that it should have a name. The term ‘magnetic resonance accelerator’ is suggested... The word ‘cyclotron’, of obvious derivation, has come to be used as a sort of laboratory slang for the magnetic device. 1936 Discovery June 193/1 Princeton University is..developing its high voltage apparatus by the installation of a cyclotron, which has proved the most satisfactory means of procuring the high-speed ions necessary for the study of nuclear transformations. 1942 Endeavour I. 40/1 The cyclotron..consists essentially of a large electromagnet with circular pole pieces, between which is fixed a shallow cylindrical vacuum-tight metal chamber. 1951 Sci. News XXII. 58 The cyclotron derives directly from the linear accelerator. The great length and numerous electrodes of the linear accelerator can be avoided if the particles are made to move in a spiral path by a magnetic field. 1966 [see dee n. 2]. 1969 Auden City without Walls 97 The High Priests of telescopes and cyclotrons Keep making pronouncements. |