page_title: Betatron
hierarchical_section_title: Betatron
caption_attribution_description: English: The first betatron, a particle accelerator that accelerates electrons, built at University of Illinois in 1940 by Donald W. Kerst, seen at right working on the pole pieces. It consisted of a 4 ton electromagnet with a donut-shaped vacuum chamber circling the pole piece and produced 24 Mev electrons.
context_page_description: A betatron is a type of cyclic particle accelerator. It is essentially a transformer with a torus-shaped vacuum tube as its secondary coil. An alternating current in the primary coils accelerates electrons in the vacuum around a circular path. The betatron was the first machine capable of producing electron beams at energies higher than could be achieved with a simple electron gun.
  The betatron was developed in 1935 by Max Steenbeck in Germany to accelerate electrons, but the concepts ultimately originate from Rolf Widerøe, whose development of an induction accelerator failed due to the lack of transverse focusing. Subsequent development occurred in the United States through Donald Kerst in the 1940s.
context_section_description: A betatron is a type of cyclic particle accelerator. It is essentially a transformer with a torus-shaped vacuum tube as its secondary coil. An alternating current in the primary coils accelerates electrons in the vacuum around a circular path. The betatron was the first machine capable of producing electron beams at energies higher than could be achieved with a simple electron gun.
  The betatron was developed in 1935 by Max Steenbeck in Germany to accelerate electrons, but the concepts ultimately originate from Rolf Widerøe, whose development of an induction accelerator failed due to the lack of transverse focusing. Subsequent development occurred in the United States through Donald Kerst in the 1940s.
caption: Early betatron at University of Illinois. Kerst is at right, examining the vacuum chamber between the poles of the 4-ton magnet.
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