Pyroelectric Crystal Accelerator In The Department Of Physics And Nuclear Engineering At West Point

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3586206· OSTI ID:21513462

Gillich, Don; Kovanen, Andrew; Anderson, Tom; Bright, Kevin; Edwards, Ronald; Moretti, Brian ^[1]; Shannon, Mike; Musk, Jeffrey ^[2]; Danon, Yaron ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY 10996 (United States)
2. Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Center, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, West Point, NY 10996 (United States)
3. Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 (United States)

The Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Center (NSERC), a Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) office located at the United States Military Academy (USMA), sponsors and manages cadet and faculty research in support of DTRA objectives. The NSERC has created an experimental pyroelectric crystal accelerator program to enhance undergraduate education at USMA in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering. This program provides cadets with hands-on experience in designing their own experiments using an inexpensive tabletop accelerator. This device uses pyroelectric crystals to ionize and accelerate gas ions to energies of {approx}100 keV. Within the next year, cadets and faculty at USMA will use this device to create neutrons through the deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion process, effectively creating a compact, portable neutron generator. The double crystal pyroelectric accelerator will also be used by students to investigate neutron, x-ray, and ion spectroscopy.

• OSTI ID: 21513462
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1336; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ACCELERATORS
BARYONS
CRYSTALS
DEUTERIUM
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTROSTATIC ACCELERATORS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
ENGINEERING
FERMIONS
HADRONS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ION SPECTROSCOPY
IONIZING RADIATIONS
ISOTOPES
KEV RANGE
KEV RANGE 100-1000
LIGHT NUCLEI
NEUTRON GENERATORS
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PARTICLE SOURCES
POLARIZATION
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATIONS
SCATTERING
SPECTROSCOPY
STABLE ISOTOPES
X RADIATION