Patent ID: 8837662

Claim:
A compact apparatus for generating nuclear particles, comprising: an ion source, the ion source configured to produce an ion beam; an accelerator operatively coupled to the ion source to define an accelerator/ion source region, the accelerator operating at a vacuum pressure and configured to receive the ion beam and accelerate the ion beam to yield an accelerated ion beam; and a gaseous target system operatively coupled to the accelerator, the target system comprising a target chamber operating at a gas pressure within a range of about 1 to about 100 torr to define a higher gas pressure region and configured to contain a gaseous nuclear particle-deriving target material which is reactive with the accelerated beam to emit nuclear particles into the higher gas pressure region via a substantially constant flow of unionized gas molecules, wherein the vacuum pressure of the accelerator defines a lower gas pressure region of the accelerator, and wherein the accelerated ion beam deposits energy in the gaseous target material, and wherein the target system is substantially open to the accelerator/ion source region with no physical barrier preventing a flow of gas molecules from the higher gas pressure region of the target chamber to the lower gas pressure region of the accelerator; and a differential pumping system configured to maintain a first pressure differential between an outside atmosphere and the ion source/accelerator region, a second pressure differential between the outside atmosphere and the target system, and a third pressure differential between the ion source/accelerator region and the target system, the differential pumping system including: a) a first end being the accelerator/ion source region at the vacuum pressure and a second end being the target chamber at the gas pressure b) at least one vacuum chamber connecting the first end to the second end that allows passage of the ion beam from the first end to the second end of the differential pumping system; c) at least one vacuum pump connected to each vacuum chamber, the vacuum pump configured to exhaust into an adjacent vacuum chamber that is higher in pressure to maintain the first pressure differential and the second pressure differential and the third pressure differential.