The Design of a Small Cyclotron

Abstract

A small cyclotron capable of producing a 45-170 keV proton beam or a 20-85 keV deuteron beam is being designed and constructed at Houghton College. In this design, low pressure hydrogen gas will be ionized by a filament inside the acceleration chamber, which will contain a single RF accelerating electrode. The chamber will be evacuated by a diffusion pump backed with a rotary forepump and a liquid nitrogen cold trap. The magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet (nominal field strength 0.5 T) may be altered using an adjustable pole separation. The motivation, theory, and overall design will be covered in this thesis, with a special emphasis on the design and construction of the vacuum system.