Cascade generator built at the Cavendish Laboratory
- Materials:
- selenium , bakelite , steel (metal) , chromium plated , tin plated , nickel plated and aluminium alloy
- Object Number:
- 1982-1318 Pt1
- type:
- generator
Cascade generator, for 1.5 million volt accelerator, designed by and built at the Cavendish Laboratory, by Philips, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England and Phillips, Holland, 1937. The 1.5 million volt accelerator was also known as voltage doubler stack.
This cascade generator was installed with the Philips Million-Volt Accelerator at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, in 1937. The generator produced the electric field (up to one million volts) used to accelerate particles such as protons and electrons during experiments using the accelerator. It generated these high voltages using a system of capacitors (which act as stores of electrical charge) and rectifiers, insulated and shielded to prevent the charge 'leaking out'.