Linear accelerator , also called Linac , type of particle accelerator ( q.v. ) that imparts a series of relatively small increases in energy to subatomic particles as they pass through a sequence of alternating electric fields set up in a linear structure. The small accelerations add together to give the particles a greater energy than could be achieved by the voltage used in one section alone. linear accelerator Linear accelerator at Stanford (University) Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, Calif. Greg James In 1924 Gustaf Ising, a Swedish physicist, proposed accelerating particles using alternating electric fields, with “drift tubes” positioned at appropriate intervals to shield the particles during the half-cycle when the field is in the wrong direction for acceleration. Four years later, the Norwegian engineer Rolf Wideröe built the first machine of this kind, successfully accelerating potassium ions to an energy of 50,000 ...