Cockcroft–Walton generator
Generador de Cockcroft-Walton
- Date
- 1919 · confidence high
- Place
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Credited to
- Heinrich Greinacher (1919); used by Cockcroft and Walton in their 1932 accelerator
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A voltage-multiplier circuit that generates high DC voltage from a low-voltage AC source through a cascade of diodes and capacitors, developed by Heinrich Greinacher in 1919 and popularized by Cockcroft and Walton in their 1932 particle accelerator.
What it led to
- Particle accelerators and the first artificial nuclear disintegration (1932)
- High-voltage generators in industrial electronics
- Portable X-ray tubes
- Air-ionizer power supplies