ISIS linear accelerator upgraded at RAL

Diversified Technologies, Inc., (DTI) has recently installed two solid-state switches at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) to eliminate numerous operating difficulties with their legacy systems and reduce operating costs.

RAL, one of the national scientific research laboratories in Britain, has been operating the ISIS Linear Accelerator since 1984. Recent tetrode switch tube failures, however, prompted them to replace their legacy, low power cathode modulators used on its 2 MW RF triodes with high power, solid-state anode modulators from Diversified Technologies, Inc.

DTI installed the solid-state switches between the power supplies and tetrode which prevented high fault energy from destroying the tetrode, saved approximately 25% in electricity costs, and increased the overall reliability of their older generation ISIS Linear Accelerator.

According to Michael Kempkes, DTI VP, “the solid-state switches are drop-in replacements. DTI specializes in modernizing any vacuum tube RF amplifier or transmitter such as Klystrons, TWTs, and magnetrons.”