betatron, a type of particle accelerator that uses the electric field induced by a varying magnetic field to accelerate electrons (beta particles) to high speeds in a circular orbit. The first successful betatron was completed in 1940 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, under the direction of the American physicist Donald W. Kerst, who had deduced the detailed principles that govern the operation of such a device. Modern compact betatron designs are used to produce high-energy X-ray beams for a variety of applications.
The betatron consists of an evacuated tube formed into a circular loop and embedded in an electromagnet in which the windings are parallel to the loop. An alternating electric current in these windings produces a varying magnetic field that periodically reverses in direction. During one quarter of the alternating current cycle, the direction and strength of the magnetic field, as well as the rate of change of the field inside the orbit, have values appropriate for accelerating electrons in one direction.
Electron acceleration is controlled by two forces, one acting in the direction of the motion of the electrons and the other at right angles to that direction. The force in the direction of electron motion is exerted by the electric field produced via induction by the strengthening of the magnetic field within the circle; this force accelerates the electrons. The second—perpendicular—force arises as the electrons move through the magnetic field, and it maintains the electrons in a circular orbit within the closed loop.
At the beginning of the appropriate quarter-cycle, electrons are injected into the betatron, where they make hundreds of thousands of orbits, gaining energy all the while. At the end of the quarter-cycle, the electrons are deflected onto a target to produce X-rays or other high-energy phenomena. Large betatrons have produced electron beams with energies greater than 340 megaelectron volts (MeV) for use in particle-physics research. Weight considerations place severe limitations on the construction of high-energy betatrons; the electromagnet of a 340-MeV unit weighs about 330 tons.
Lower-energy betatrons in the 7–20-MeV range, however, have been specially constructed to serve as sources of energetic “hard” X-rays for use in medical and industrial radiography. Portable betatrons, operating at energy levels of approximately 7 MeV, have been designed for specialized applications in industrial radiography—for example, to examine concrete, steel, and cast-metal construction for structural integrity.