High Efficiency RF Power Sources for Accelerator Applications

The Department of Energy operates various linear particle accelerators that consume massive amounts of electricity- One of the key components of a particle accelerator is the radio frequency (RF) power amplifier- By increasing the efficiency of this amplifier while keeping its cost down, it is possible to save considerable amounts of energy and reduce operating costs- RF power amplifiers convert electrical energy into RF energy- Any electrical energy not converted into RF energy is converted into heat- This is wasted energy that costs money to generate and dispose off at the same time- Saving energy and money is in the best interest of the public and the environment- The proposal involves the development of a solid state, 12 kW RF power amplifier at 952-6 MHz for applications in particle accelerators, achieving more than 80% power efficiency using state-of-the-art gallium nitride (GaN) devices- There is a unique opportunity to combine several design techniques and technologies to produce these power amplifiers for the particle accelerator market and many others as well-