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3D-Printed CRT (electron accelrator)

Inspired by a visit to CERN and learning about their Linac, I attempted to develop a functional 3D-printed low cost (albeit low power) electron beam prototype. Many months of trial and error, a 400,000 Volt transformer, and numerous exploded vacuum chambers later, I had a finished design, yet to be tested! It was an incredible learning experience and really fun to work on*!

Technical Details

Vacuum Chamber

Before I could build any electron accelerator, I needed a vacuum chamber, but without access to high end vacuum pumps. I started with an airtight food container, and connected an airtight balloon pump to it. Repeated pumping allowed me to achieve fairly low pressures in the chamber, which allowed me to continue.

High Voltage!

In order to create a steady stream of particles, I would need two electrodes with a large potential difference to spontaneously ionize the extremely low pressure air between them, allowing electrons to accelerate. This initially started with a deconstructed (safely and with supervision) plasma globe and later involved a more substantial (up to) 400000 V transformer building a potential over a capacitance gap.

*with the appropriate safety precautions, of course

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