Patent ID: 8723451

Claim:
An accelerator for accelerating charged particles, comprising: a capacitor stack comprising: a first electrode configured to be brought to a first potential, a second electrode concentrically arranged with respect to the first electrode and which is configured to be brought to a second potential that differs from the first potential, and at least one intermediate electrode concentrically arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode and which is configured to be brought to an intermediate potential between the first potential and the second potential, a switching device to which the electrodes of the capacitor stack are connected, the switching device being configured such that, during operation of the switching device, the electrodes of the capacitor stack concentrically arranged with respect to one another can be brought to increasing potential levels, a first acceleration channel formed by first openings in the electrodes of the capacitor stack such that charged particles can be accelerated by the electrodes along the first acceleration channel, a second acceleration channel formed by second openings in the electrodes of the capacitor stack such that charged particles can be accelerated by the electrodes along the second acceleration channel, and a device configured to influence the accelerated particle beam in the interior of the capacitor stack, thereby creating photons in the interior of the capacitor stack.