Cyclotron Info

Learn

Everything on this site — the design rules, the calculators, the build census — rests on a small body of physics and eighty-plus years of accumulated practice. This section lays that foundation out in order: how the machine works, where it came from, what it is used for, what can hurt you, and what it realistically takes to build one.

These pages are editorial synthesis. They take a position, put a subsystem in a reading order, and cite the Design Guide rule behind each claim; the Design Guide itself is the evidence layer, where every rule keeps its verbatim quote and the page it came from. Follow a citation whenever a claim here matters to a decision.

The pages form a learning path and are best read in sequence, but each stands alone. Anyone considering a build should read Safety in full, whatever else they skip.

Start with the honest question: Should you build one at all? — the case against, argued in full, before the course begins. Decided to proceed? Choosing Your Machine turns a purpose into an energy band and a design point, with a project brief for each.

Prefer to try before reading? The Virtual Cyclotron Laboratory lets you set the controls of an illustrative machine and watch what happens; six guided exercises turn it into a short course (more below). Half built and stuck? The builder FAQ starts from the symptom.

  1. 1 How a Cyclotron Works

    The physics from first principles: the Lorentz force, the resonance condition, dees and RF, focusing, and why classical machines top out — plus how cyclotrons relate to linacs, betatrons, and synchrotrons.

  2. 2 History

    From a sketch on a library evening in 1929 to the 4-inch prototype, the MeV barrier, the 184-inch synchrocyclotron, the isochronous era, and today’s superconducting and medical machines.

  3. 3 Applications

    What cyclotrons actually do all day: PET and SPECT isotope production, the Tc-99m story, proton therapy, PIXE analysis, nuclear physics research, and more.

  4. 4 Safety

    The hazards of small accelerator projects — high voltage, RF, X-rays, activation, vacuum, magnets, gas handling — each with its mechanism and its mitigation. Read before building anything.

  5. 5 So You Want to Build One

    The honest starter path: the skills it takes, what documented builds actually cost, how long they take, how often they finish, the key design decisions, and where to ask questions.

  6. 6 How to Learn to Build a Cyclotron

    A self-study path through the field’s small literature: the reading sequence from first physics to design-ready, the four thoroughly documented working machines to study, and where to practice and ask.

  7. 7 Free Modeling & Simulation Tools

    A verified catalog of free software for every design question — magnet field solvers, beam tracking, ion source extraction, RF, vacuum, and shielding — with honest assessments for tabletop builders.

  8. 8 Cyclotron Glossary

    The reference to keep open alongside everything else: 90-odd concise definitions of the terms in cyclotron literature — anatomy, beam physics, RF, vacuum, safety, and regulation — each deep-linkable and cross-referenced.

  9. 9 The Cyclotron Industry

    Who actually builds commercial cyclotrons: the current manufacturers worldwide with their machine lines, the historical makers whose nameplates survive on running machines, honest install-base numbers, and what working in the field looks like.

  10. 10 Keep Going: External Resources

    Where the learning continues beyond this site — verified video courses and lecture archives, free conference proceedings, open textbooks, thesis collections, communities, and surplus vendors.

Try one

The Virtual Cyclotron Laboratory (hosted; illustrative, not a calibrated replica) puts the path's ideas under your hands: set the field, RF frequency, dee voltage and source of an illustrative ~150 keV machine, watch an ensemble of ions accelerate, inspect a single path crossing the gap, and sweep one control to see the resonance curve appear. Every reading comes from one evaluated ensemble named by its revision; a full workspace adds the field atlas, acceptance and envelope views.

Six guided exercises turn the laboratory into a short course: predict what a control will do, move it, compare — from finding the resonance to weighing the ion.

Builder FAQ

The questions people ask when they are thinking about building a small cyclotron, or have one half built, answered in plain language: fifty-two answers in eight groups, from deciding and designing, through building it safely, to running it and proving a beam. Each answer stands on its own in its first paragraph and opens into the detail below it, with the Design Guide rule or the documented build behind every claim. A "start here if…" list on the index goes from symptom to answer.

Deep dives

Unnumbered, and deeper than the path goes: one topic each, built from the Design Guide rules and the hosted construction classics.

Off the path: An Entirely Objective Comparison of Particle Accelerators — satire, with the physics intact.