Definition

Noun: A Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier is a type of electrical circuit that generates a high direct current (DC) voltage from a lower-voltage alternating current (AC) source. It uses a ladder network of capacitors and diodes to rectify and multiply the input voltage in stages.

Usage

The term is used to describe a specific circuit design used in physics and engineering to produce high voltages for applications such as particle accelerators, X-ray machines, and cathode-ray tubes. * The early particle accelerator used a Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier to provide the necessary high voltage. * To power the experiment, they constructed a simple Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier in the laboratory.

Advanced Usage

• Technical Specification: The circuit is also known as a Cockcroft-Walton generator or a voltage multiplier ladder. Its design allows it to reach high voltages without requiring a large, expensive, and potentially dangerous high-voltage transformer.
• Historical Context: The circuit is named after the physicists John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton, who used this design to build the first particle accelerator to perform the first artificial nuclear disintegration in 1932.

Variants and Related Words

• Voltage multiplier (n): The general class of circuits to which the Cockcroft-Walton design belongs.
• Cockcroft-Walton generator (n): A synonymous term.
• Voltage multiplier ladder (n): A descriptive term for the circuit's structure.

Synonyms

• High-voltage generator (n): A more general term for equipment that produces high voltages.
• Cascade multiplier (n): Another technical term for similar voltage-multiplying circuits.

Related Phrases

• To multiply voltage: The primary function of the circuit.
  • The circuit is designed to multiply voltage efficiently.
• Voltage multiplication stage: Refers to one step in the ladder network.
  • Each voltage multiplication stage adds the peak input voltage to the output.

Noun

1. a high-voltage machine in which rectifiers charge capacitors that discharge and drive charged particles through an accelerating tube