betatron
(ˈbiːtətrɒn)
[f. beta + -tron.]
A machine designed for the acceleration of β particles.
Kerst first spoke of the machine (1940) as an ‘Induction Accelerator’.
| 1941 Time 29 Dec. 44/3 A new electron-hurling machine..its brilliant young inventor, Donald William Kerst, 30, who calls the machine a ‘betatron’. Ibid., ‘The heart of the betatron,’ explains Inventor Kerst, ‘is a doughnut-shaped glass vacuum tube between the poles of a large electro⁓magnet.’ 1942 D. W. Kerst in Rev. Sci. Instr. XIII. 387 (title) A 20-Million Electron-Volt Betatron or Induction Accelerator. 1960 Gloss. Atomic Terms (H.M.S.O.) 6 Betatron, a machine for accelerating a continuous beam of electrons to high speeds in a circular path by means of the electric field produced by a changing magnetic flux. |