Excerpt:
The history of particle accelerators for ion beams is often described in association with the development of cyclotrons, primarily due to their wide-spread use in the medical field. However, what is often not acknowledged is that ion linear accelerators (“linacs”) were developed in parallel with the cyclotron and other circular accelerators. While Lawrence and Livingston designed the first small cyclotron in 1930, R. Wideröe had already published a paper in 1928 on his results from an rf powered linear accelerator for ions.