Cockcroft–Walton generator

E139401

The Cockcroft–Walton generator is a high-voltage power supply circuit that uses a cascade of capacitors and diodes to multiply an input AC voltage, historically important for early particle acceleration experiments.

All labels observed (4)

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf electrical circuit
high-voltage power supply
voltage multiplier circuit
associatedWith early high-energy physics
splitting of the atomic nucleus
canBeConfiguredAs full-wave voltage multiplier
developedBy Ernest Walton
surface form: Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton

John Cockcroft
surface form: John Douglas Cockcroft
developmentPeriod early 1930s
hasAdvantage ability to reach very high voltages
low cost
simple construction
hasAlternativeName Cockcroft–Walton generator
surface form: Cockcroft–Walton multiplier

Greinacher circuit
cascade generator
hasDisadvantage high ripple at high load currents
poor voltage regulation under load
sensitivity to stray capacitances
hasFunction generation of high DC voltage
voltage multiplication
hasInput AC voltage
hasPart multiple capacitor stages
multiple diode stages
hasTopology cascaded diode-capacitor ladder
historicallyUsedIn first artificial nuclear disintegration experiments
namedAfter Ernest Walton
surface form: Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton

John Cockcroft
surface form: John Douglas Cockcroft
operatesOnPrinciple capacitor charging in series
capacitor discharging in parallel
performanceDependsOn input frequency
load current
number of stages
produces rectified high DC voltage
relatedTo Marx generator
Van de Graaff generators
surface form: Van de Graaff generator
requires AC input frequency
typicalConfiguration half-wave voltage multiplier
usedFor demonstration of nuclear reactions
laboratory high-voltage experiments
usedIn HV test equipment
X-ray generators
cathode-ray tube power supplies
electrostatic accelerators
neon sign power supplies
nuclear physics experiments
particle accelerators
photomultiplier tube power supplies
usesComponent capacitor
diode

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Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

John Cockcroft knownFor Cockcroft–Walton generator
John Cockcroft coInventorOf Cockcroft–Walton generator
Cockcroft–Walton experiment usedAcceleratorType Cockcroft–Walton generator
this entity surface form: Cockcroft–Walton voltage multiplier
Cockcroft–Walton experiment relatedTo Cockcroft–Walton generator
Cockcroft–Walton generator hasAlternativeName Cockcroft–Walton generator
this entity surface form: Cockcroft–Walton multiplier
Ernest Walton knownFor Cockcroft–Walton generator
this entity surface form: Cockcroft–Walton accelerator
Ernest Walton coDeveloperOf Cockcroft–Walton generator
John knownFor Cockcroft–Walton generator
subject surface form: John Cockcroft