Past, Present, and Future of Accelerator Industry in Korea
Past, Present, and Future of Accelerator Industry in Korea
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  • 승인 2007.08.14 17:10
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by Chai Jong-seo

This is the last of six articles on medical cyclotrons which provide radioisotopes for positron emission tomography, a cancer diagnostic tool -- Ed.

The world of physics in the early 20th century saw physics with new concepts that could rightly be seen as revolutionary, the emergence of quantum physics. To those who had believed that all physical phenomena can be interpreted with the classic physics centered on Newton's dynamics, quantum physics was a concept of physics that is based on revolutionary thinking different from the classic physics.

The origin of quantum physics can be traced to the physicists centered on Niels Bohr at the University of Copenhagen. In step with the trends of the time, there had been a need to develop an experiment device that can support the quantum theory, and thus came the particle accelerator. At the initial period, particle accelerators were developed for merely utilizing constant charge. Afterwards, new attempts were made and resulted in the emergence of various theories and the development research with the coming of the 1930s.

In 1938, Ernest O. Lawrence of the US invented the cyclotron and won the Nobel Prize in 1939. The invention of the cyclotron formed the basis for developing milestone accelerators. The methods of using high-frequency electric fields became the foundation for developing small and large accelerators of various forms. Based on this, a multitude of major accelerators, ranging from circular RF accelerators to large cyclotrons, were developed.

Even from the time of Lawrence inventing the cyclotron, the accelerator was not used only for doing research in the physics field. With a deep interest in the medical use of the cyclotron, Lawrence utilized the device to develop radioactive materials for medical use. In addition, he paid attention to neutron-based medical treatment. At that time, Emillo Segre succeeded in extracting the artificial element Technetium by using a cyclotron. In 1948, Robert R. Wilson came up with a way to use a particle accelerator in the medical field for the first time in the world. Recognizing the usefulness of Bragg Peak, he advocated the utilization of corpuscular beams for medical treatment.

Due perhaps to the early termination of World War II through the use of the nuclear bomb, a lot of funds had been poured into the academic community of physics after the war. Supported by the large funds that had flowed into the physics academia, physicists stepped up efforts to construct a huge accelerator to solve the mystery of the universe. The construction of a gigantic accelerator made it necessary to adopt engineering technologies of unprecedented proportions. Naturally, engineering technologies were also developed simultaneously. The vacuum technology had a tremendous influence on the materials industry such as semiconductors, the ion technology on the development of semiconductors, and the high frequency technology on telecommunications. Moreover, the accelerator technology is also the combination of all technologies. The markup language 'html' and the communications protocol 'http' that we use daily, and the widely known World Wide Web 'www,' too, are the byproducts of accelerator development as they were invented for filing research documents at CERN, a united research institute on accelerators in Europe.

As described in the previous five parts of this series article, the particle accelerator technologies are utilized across all industry fields, including advanced physics, electronics, nanotechnologies, mechanics, medicine, and the materials science. Also, they are used for the discovery of not only quarks but also the Higgs which is believed to be the particle that can solve the mystery of the universe. The manufacturing technologies needed to construct an accelerator, too, are shifting toward an innovative course centering on the US, Europe, and Japan.

Recently, highly advanced accelerators are being developed in Japan and Europe. These accelerators utilize either a cavity resonator or an electromagnet that uses a superconductor capable of extracting beams with high energy and voltage under conditions similar to the past but highly efficient in the scale and consumption of electricity. Centering on both the US and France, also underway is the development of a plasma accelerator, the accelerator of dreams utilizing a highly powerful instant electric field. The history of accelerators in Korea is very short in comparison to Europe and the US. The Korean government, which had highly hoped to see the development of science and technology during the difficult times after the Korean War, established the Atomic Energy Research Institute under the Ministry of Atomic Energy.

Assisted by the research funds of the ministry, Lee Mun-chong and other professors at the department of physics at Seoul National University constructed a 1.5 MeV cyclotron for the first time in the nation. But, the cyclotron only ended in the extraction of an instant beam because it was difficulty to secure highly precise components under the conditions of the times. Since then, Korea had to wait a vast 41 years until in 2000 when a 1 MeV proton beam was stably extracted using a cyclotron. Due to economic reasons in the 1960s and 1970s, it had in fact been extremely difficult to construct an accelerator capable of conducting a physics experiment.

Since then, and specifically in 1981, the department of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University installed a 1.5 MV Tandem Van De Graff for the first time in Korea. And the introduction of a Swedishmade 50 MeV cyclotron to the Korea Atomic Energy Hospital in 1985 brought about the full-fledged utilization of a particle accelerator in the country.

In 1994, Pohang Light Source, a thirdgeneration synchrotron radiation facility was constructed and went into operation. In 1999, the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Science (KIRAMS) developed Korea's unique 1 MeV and 13 MeV cyclotrons under the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology as part of the ministry's mid- and long-term research and development project of nuclear energy. In early 2007, a 30 MeV dual beam cyclotron was developed and installed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KIRAMS).

In addition, the researchers at KIRAMS are in the middle of developing a superconductor cyclotron as part of a five-year atomic energy development project. In the case of the KIRAMS-13 cyclotron which was developed by the institute's researchers, Samyoung Unitech received technological know-how from the institute and produces KOTRON-13 cyclotrons. At present, there are two companies specializing in accelerators in Korea. They are EB-tech, the manufacturer of electron accelerators, and Samyoung Unitech, the manufacturer of cyclotrons.

In the 21st century in which highly advanced technologies have great influence on daily life, it is forecast that the demand for the particle accelerator, which is the quintessence of fusion technology, will grow on an explosive scale. Especially in the case of Korea where information and bio technologies are developed as national engines of growth, the development prospects for the applied industries of the accelerator, the epicenter of Korea's future growth, are limitless. The application of such technology in step with today's "wellbeing" trend will become the core basis for the development of radiation-based analysis devices or medical equipment and lay down the foundation to lead Korea's advanced industries.


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