Understanding neutron production in the deuterium dense plasma focus

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2014 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4904765· OSTI ID:22390836

Appelbe, Brian; Chittenden, Jeremy ^[1]

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1. The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

The deuterium Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) can produce copious amounts of MeV neutrons and can be used as an efficient neutron source. However, the mechanism by which neutrons are produced within the DPF is poorly understood and this limits our ability to optimize the device. In this paper we present results from a computational study aimed at understanding how neutron production occurs in DPFs with a current between 70 kA and 500 kA and which parameters can affect it. A combination of MHD and kinetic tools are used to model the different stages of the DPF implosion. It is shown that the anode shape can significantly affect the structure of the imploding plasma and that instabilities in the implosion lead to the generation of large electric fields at stagnation. These electric fields can accelerate deuterium ions within the stagnating plasma to large (>100 keV) energies leading to reactions with ions in the cold dense plasma. It is shown that the electromagnetic fields present can significantly affect the trajectories of the accelerated ions and the resulting neutron production.

• OSTI ID: 22390836
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1639; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ANODES
DEUTERIUM
DEUTERIUM IONS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
KEV RANGE
LASER IMPLOSIONS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MEV RANGE
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRONS
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA FOCUS
PLASMA INSTABILITY