Microwaves - Power Up the Particles
The power of a typical
microwave oven is a few hundred watts. The linac
klystron is capable of generating
65 Megawatts, that is 65 million watts, though only for very
short pulses.
Since the accelerator began operation in 1966, the maximum energy to which it can accelerate electrons has more than doubled by improving the energy output of the klystrons.
In a microwave oven, heat is generated in the food when the electromagnetic fields of the microwaves excites (vibrates) molecules, particularly water molecules, within the food. The energy from the microwave is thus converted into heat energy in the food. At SLAC, microwaves provide energy to accelerate the electrons or positrons along the two mile accelerator structure. There is one klystron every forty feet along the gallery above the accelerator structure.
A view inside the Klystron Gallery, looking
toward Sector 0. The Klystrons are circled.
The building housing that houses the klystrons (the Klystron Gallery) is the two mile long building visible from any plane flying into San Francisco from Hawaii, or from Highway 280 on the overpass just south of Sand Hill Road.
