Activation measurements of high energy deuterons in the plasma focus device

Conference · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1975

OSTI ID:4152745

Gullickson, R L; Sahlin, H L

Nuclear activation techniques were used to measure the fluence of high energy deuterons in a plasma focus device having a stored energy of 75 kilojoules at 18 kV. The $sup 12$C(d,n)$sup 13$N (330 keV threshold) and $sup 27$Al(d,p)$sup 28$Al reactions were used to provide both an absolute number of high energy deuterons and an average energy, evaluated from the $sup 13$N/$sup 28$Al ratio calculated for various energies by Young. Previous measurements indicated more than 10$sup 15$ deuterons could be accelerated to energies above 330 keV in the low pressure mode of operation, with a highly anisotropic distribution. Present measurements show that more than 10$sup 12$ deuterons achieve energies greater than 5 MeV on some high intensity shots in the low pressure mode. The presence of multi-MeV deuterons in the plasma focus device was substantiated by measuring activation as a function of depth in 1 mil Al foils, and by measurements of neutron energy using time-of-flight. (auth)

• Research Organization: California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
• NSA Number: NSA-33-011642
• OSTI ID: 4152745
• Report Number(s): UCRL--77173; CONF-751130--17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*PLASMA FOCUS DEVICES-- ENERGY SPECTRA
700102* --Fusion Energy--Plasma Research--Plasma Diagnostics
ACTIVATION ANALYSIS
ALUMINIUM 27
ALUMINIUM 28
CARBON 12
DEUTERON REACTIONS
N70200* --Physics--Controlled Thermonuclear Research-- Diagnostics
NITROGEN 13