Zyklotron

Zyklotron is the German term for the cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that uses a uniform magnetic field and a rapidly alternating electric field to accelerate charged particles along a spiral outward path. In a typical arrangement, ions are injected into the gap between two hollow D-shaped electrodes called dees, placed within a constant magnetic field. The alternating voltage accelerates the particles each time they cross the gap, while the magnetic field bends their trajectory into a circular arc. As energy increases, the radius of the orbit grows, producing a spiral trajectory until the beam is extracted.

History and variants: The cyclotron was invented in the early 1930s by Ernest O. Lawrence and M. Stanley Livingston at the University of California, Berkeley. It quickly became a central tool in nuclear physics and the production of radioisotopes for medicine and industry. Variants include the synchrocyclotron, which adjusts the accelerating frequency to compensate relativistic mass increase, and the isochronous cyclotron, which uses a shaped magnetic field to keep the orbital period nearly constant at higher energies.

Applications and status: Classical cyclotrons are compact and relatively economical, making them widely used for producing medical isotopes for PET and SPECT, as well as for materials research. In modern medicine, cyclotrons also enable proton beam therapy in some centers, though high-energy physics research more often relies on larger accelerators such as synchrotrons and linear accelerators. The Zyklotron remains a versatile option for compact accelerator needs and isotope production.