Neutron production and implosion characteristics of a deuterium gas-puff Z pinch

Journal Article · Thu Feb 15 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2446177· OSTI ID:20974841

Coverdale, C A; Deeney, C; Velikovich, A L; Clark, R W; Chong, Y K; Davis, J; Chittenden, J; Ruiz, C L; Cooper, G W; Nelson, A J; Franklin, J; LePell, P D; Apruzese, J P; Levine, J; Banister, J; Qi, N ^[1]

---

1. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123 (United States)

Experiments on the Z accelerator with deuterium gas puff implosions have produced up to 3.9x10{sup 13} ({+-}20%) neutrons at 2.34 MeV ({+-}0.10 MeV). Experimentally, the mechanism for generating these neutrons has not been definitively identified through isotropy measurements, but activation diagnostics suggest multiple mechanisms may be responsible. One-, two-, and three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) calculations have indicated that thermonuclear outputs from Z could be expected to be in the (0.3-1.0)x10{sup 14} range. X-ray diagnostics of plasma conditions, fielded to look at dopant materials in the deuterium, have shown that the stagnated deuterium plasma achieved electron temperatures of 2.2 keV and ion densities of 2x10{sup 20} cm{sup -3}, in agreement with the MHD calculations.

• OSTI ID: 20974841
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 14; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACCELERATORS
DEUTERIUM
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
IMPLOSIONS
ION DENSITY
ION TEMPERATURE
KEV RANGE
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MEV RANGE 01-10
NEUTRONS
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
PLASMA SIMULATION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
X RADIATION