Radiofrequency source having a phase stabilization element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12382572-B2
Application number	US-202318173276-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2023
Priority date	Feb 25, 2022
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

One or more example embodiments of the present invention relates to a radiofrequency source for a linear accelerator system, to the linear accelerator system, to a method for operating a radiofrequency source, and to an associated computer program product.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A radiofrequency source for a linear accelerator system, comprising:
a microwave generator configured to generate microwaves;
a circulator, the circulator having ferrites to isolate the microwave generator from backscattered microwaves by influencing a phase of the microwaves according to a magnetic field, the circulator including an electrical phase stabilization element;
a control unit configured to receive a measured variable describing a magnetic permeability of the circulator, the control unit being further configured to adjust at least one of a current of the electrical phase stabilization element or a voltage of the electrical phase stabilization element to influence the magnetic field based on the received measured variable such that an amplitude difference between the generated microwaves and the backscattered microwaves is a maximum; and
a measuring apparatus configured to measure an electromagnetic variable of the backscattered microwaves, the measured electromagnetic variable being the measured variable describing the magnetic permeability of the circulator and the measured electromagnetic variable describing at least one of an amplitude of the backscattered microwaves or a phase of the backscattered microwaves.

2. The radiofrequency source of claim 1 , wherein the electrical phase stabilization element includes,
a controllable inductive component, the at least one of the adjusted current of the electrical phase stabilization element or the adjusted voltage of the electrical phase stabilization element runs through the controllable inductive component.

3. The radiofrequency source of claim 2 , wherein the controllable inductive component has at least one electromagnetic coil.

4. The radiofrequency source of claim 3 , wherein the electrical phase stabilization element further includes,
a permanent magnet, the at least one electromagnetic coil being wound around the permanent magnet.

5. The radiofrequency source of claim 4 , wherein the electrical phase stabilization element includes,
a controllable thermoelectric component configured to control a temperature inside the circulator, the at least one of the adjusted current of the electrical phase stabilization element or the adjusted voltage of the electrical phase stabilization element runs through the controllable thermoelectric component.

6. The radiofrequency source of claim 5 , wherein the controllable thermoelectric component is a thermoelectric converter.

7. The radiofrequency source of claim 1 , wherein the electrical phase stabilization element includes,
a controllable thermoelectric component configured to control a temperature inside the circulator, the at least one of the adjusted current of the electrical phase stabilization element or the adjusted voltage of the electrical phase stabilization element runs through the controllable thermoelectric component.

8. The radiofrequency source of claim 7 , wherein the controllable thermoelectric component is a thermoelectric converter.

9. The radiofrequency source of claim 1 , further comprising:
a directional coupler configured to separate the generated microwaves and the backscattered microwaves, the directional coupler being between the measuring apparatus and the circulator.

10. A linear accelerator system comprising:
the radiofrequency source of claim 1 ; and
a linear accelerator unit, the linear accelerator unit including,
a particle emitter configured to emit charged particles, and
cavities configured to accelerate the charged particles via the microwaves.

11. The linear accelerator system of claim 10 , wherein the linear accelerator unit includes,
a target inside the cavities, the target configured to produce MeV X-ray radiation based on the accelerated charged particles.

12. A method for operating the radiofrequency source of claim 1 , the method comprising:
receiving in the control unit the measured variable describing the magnetic permeability of the circulator; and
adjusting the at least one of the current of the electrical phase stabilization element or the voltage of the electrical phase stabilization element such that the amplitude difference between the generated microwaves and the backscattered microwaves is maximized.

13. A non-transitory computer program product having program code that, when executed by a control unit, cause the control unit to perform the method of claim 12 .

14. The radiofrequency source of claim 1 , wherein the microwave generator comprises at least one of a magnetron or a klystron.

15. The radiofrequency source of claim 1 , wherein the microwave generator is configured to generate an alternating magnetic field between 1 GHz and 10 GHz.

16. The radiofrequency source of claim 1 , wherein the microwave generator is configured to generate an alternating magnetic field between 2 GHz and 4 GHz.

17. The radiofrequency source of claim 1 , wherein
the circulator includes at least three ports,
a first port of the circulator is connected to the microwave generator,
a second port of the circulator is connected to a useful load, and
a third port of the circulator is connected a load for absorbing the backscattered microwaves.

18. The radiofrequency source of claim 17 , wherein the useful load is a linear accelerator of the linear accelerator system.

Assignees

• Siemens Healthineers Ag

Inventors

• Mueller Sven
• Willing Stefan
• Koschmieder Martin
• Noak Claudia
• Moeller Marvin
• Setzer Stefan

Classifications

• H05H9/00

  Linear accelerators · CPC title

• H05H7/04

  Magnet systems {, e.g. undulators, wigglers (free-electron laser H01S3/0903)}; Energisation thereof · CPC title

• H05H7/02 Primary

  Circuits or systems for supplying or feeding radio-frequency energy · CPC title

• H05H2007/027

  Microwave systems · CPC title

• H05H2242/24

  Radiofrequency or microwave generators · CPC title