Dipole magnet

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Magnetic field of a simple bar magnet VFPt cylindrical magnet thumb.svg
Magnetic field of a simple bar magnet

A dipole magnet is the simplest type of magnet. It has two poles, one north and one south. Its magnetic field lines form simple closed loops which emerge from the north pole, re-enter at the south pole, then pass through the body of the magnet. The simplest example of a dipole magnet is a bar magnet. [1]

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Dipole magnets in accelerators

Dipole magnet from the Advanced Photon Source Hetdipole.jpg
Dipole magnet from the Advanced Photon Source
Dipole magnet of a plasma mass spectrometer ICP-SFMS Magnet 1.JPG
Dipole magnet of a plasma mass spectrometer

In particle accelerators, a dipole magnet is the electromagnet used to create a homogeneous magnetic field over some distance. Particle motion in that field will be circular in a plane that is perpendicular to the field and collinear to the direction of particle motion, and free in the direction orthogonal to it. Thus, a particle injected into a dipole magnet will travel on a circular or helical trajectory. By adding several dipole sections on the same plane, the bending radial effect of the beam increases.

In accelerator physics, dipole magnets are used to realize bends in the design trajectory (or 'orbit') of the particles, as in circular accelerators. Other uses include:

The force on a charged particle in a particle accelerator from a dipole magnet can be described by the Lorentz force law, where a charged particle experiences a force of

(in SI units). In the case of a particle accelerator dipole magnet, the charged particle beam is bent via the cross product of the particle's velocity and the magnetic field vector, with direction also being dependent on the charge of the particle.

The amount of force that can be applied to a charged particle by a dipole magnet is one of the limiting factors for modern synchrotron and cyclotron proton and ion accelerators. As the energy of the accelerated particles increases, they require more force to change direction and require larger B fields to be steered. Limitations on the amount of B field that can be produced with modern dipole electromagnets require synchrotrons/cyclotrons to increase in size (thus increasing the number of dipole magnets used) to compensate for increases in particle velocity. In the largest modern synchrotron, the Large Hadron Collider, there are 1232 main dipole magnets used for bending the path of the particle beam, each weighing 35 metric tons. [2]

Other uses

Other uses of dipole magnets to deflect moving particles include isotope mass measurement in mass spectrometry, and particle momentum measurement in particle physics.

Such magnets are also used in traditional televisions, which contain a cathode ray tube, which is essentially a small particle accelerator. Their magnets are called deflecting coils. The magnets move a single spot on the screen of the TV tube in a controlled way all over the screen.

Magnetic field of a cylindrical dipole magnet with a gap of near-constant field in the center. The same field configuration is obtained from two stacked current loops. VFPt flat magnets gap.svg
Magnetic field of a cylindrical dipole magnet with a gap of near-constant field in the center. The same field configuration is obtained from two stacked current loops.

See also

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A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to the magnetic field. A permanent magnet's magnetic field pulls on ferromagnetic materials such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets. In addition, a nonuniform magnetic field exerts minuscule forces on "nonmagnetic" materials by three other magnetic effects: paramagnetism, diamagnetism, and antiferromagnetism, although these forces are usually so small they can only be detected by laboratory equipment. Magnetic fields surround magnetized materials, and are created by electric currents such as those used in electromagnets, and by electric fields varying in time. Since both strength and direction of a magnetic field may vary with location, it is described mathematically by a function assigning a vector to each point of space, called a vector field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclotron</span> Type of particle accelerator

A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. A cyclotron accelerates charged particles outwards from the center of a flat cylindrical vacuum chamber along a spiral path. The particles are held to a spiral trajectory by a static magnetic field and accelerated by a rapidly varying electric field. Lawrence was awarded the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for this invention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchrotron radiation</span> Electromagnetic radiation emitted by charged particles accelerated perpendicular to their velocity

Synchrotron radiation is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity. It is produced artificially in some types of particle accelerators or naturally by fast electrons moving through magnetic fields. The radiation produced in this way has a characteristic polarization, and the frequencies generated can range over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linear particle accelerator</span> Type of particle accelerator

A linear particle accelerator is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear beamline. The principles for such machines were proposed by Gustav Ising in 1924, while the first machine that worked was constructed by Rolf Widerøe in 1928 at the RWTH Aachen University. Linacs have many applications: they generate X-rays and high energy electrons for medicinal purposes in radiation therapy, serve as particle injectors for higher-energy accelerators, and are used directly to achieve the highest kinetic energy for light particles for particle physics.

Accelerator physics is a branch of applied physics, concerned with designing, building and operating particle accelerators. As such, it can be described as the study of motion, manipulation and observation of relativistic charged particle beams and their interaction with accelerator structures by electromagnetic fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insertion device</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadrupole magnet</span> Group of four magnets

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchrocyclotron</span> Special type of cyclic particle accelerator

A synchrocyclotron is a special type of cyclotron, patented by Edwin McMillan in 1952, in which the frequency of the driving RF electric field is varied to compensate for relativistic effects as the particles' velocity begins to approach the speed of light. This is in contrast to the classical cyclotron, where this frequency is constant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchrotron</span> Type of cyclic particle accelerator

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A quadrupole or quadrapole is one of a sequence of configurations of things like electric charge or current, or gravitational mass that can exist in ideal form, but it is usually just part of a multipole expansion of a more complex structure reflecting various orders of complexity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electron scattering</span> Deviation of electrons from their original trajectories

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strong focusing</span> Converging particle beams using alternating field gradients

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weak focusing</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Particle accelerator</span> Research apparatus for particle physics

A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sextupole magnet</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storage ring</span> Type of particle accelerator

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A Fixed-Field alternating gradient Accelerator is a circular particle accelerator concept that can be characterized by its time-independent magnetic fields and the use of alternating gradient strong focusing.

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In accelerator physics, a magnetic lattice is a composition of electromagnets at given longitudinal positions around the vacuum tube of a particle accelerator, and thus along the path of the enclosed charged particle beam. The lattice properties have a large influence on the properties of the particle beam, which is shaped by magnetic fields. Lattices can be closed, linear and are also used at interconnects between different accelerator structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synchro-Cyclotron (CERN)</span>

The Synchro-Cyclotron, or Synchrocyclotron (SC), built in 1957, was CERN’s first accelerator. It was 15.7 metres (52 ft) in circumference and provided beams for CERN's first experiments in particle and nuclear physics. It accelerated particles to energies up to 600 MeV. The foundation stone of CERN was laid at the site of the Synchrocyclotron by the first Director-General of CERN, Felix Bloch. After its remarkably long 33 years of service time, the SC was decommissioned in 1990. Nowadays it accepts visitors as an exhibition area in CERN.

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