Patent ID: 8232747

Claim:
An induction-based linear particle accelerator for accelerating a beam of charged particles along a central beam axis, said linear particle accelerator having an outer surface at ground potential said linear particle accelerator comprising: a power supply arrangement; a plurality of solid-state switched drive sections connected to said power supply arrangement for receiving electrical power from said power supply arrangement, wherein each solid-state switched drive section comprises an energy storage capacitor adapted to be selectively charged by said power supply arrangement, and a solid-state switch, electronically controllable at turn-on and turn-off, for selectively providing a drive pulse at an output of the solid-state switched drive section, said switch being operable to turn-on to start the drive pulse by transferring capacitor energy form the energy-storage capacitor and operable to turn-off to terminated the drive pulse, thereby providing low-voltage drive of the linear particle accelerator; a plurality of magnetic core sections symmetrically arranged along said central beam axis, wherein each magnetic core of the magnetic core sections is coupled to a respective one of said solid-state switched drive sections through an electrical winding that is connected to said output of the solid-state switched drive section; and a switch control module, connected to said plurality of solid-state switched drive sections, for providing control signals to control turn-on and turn-off of said solid state switches to selectively drive the magnetic core sections to induce an electric field for accelerating said beam of charged particles along said central beam axis.