Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Discharge characteristics of the spherical inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device

Conference ·
OSTI ID:441554
; ;  [1]
  1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States); and others
The inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device provides 10{sup 7} 2.5-MeV D-D neutrons/second, when operated with a deuterium discharge at 70 kV. This potentially provides an important portable neutron source for various activation analysis applications. The discharge involved is unique, in that it uses a spherical grid in a spherical vacuum vessel. The discharge is struck between the grid and the vessel wall, and the 70-kV grid also serves to extract high-energy ions. Two features of the discharge are discussed: (1) the breakdown voltage characteristics as a function of pressure-grid/wall distance (pd); and (2) the formation of ion {open_quotes}microchannels{close_quotes} that carry the main ion flow through grid openings.
OSTI ID:
441554
Report Number(s):
CONF-960723--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Discharge characteristics of the spherical inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device
Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science · OSTI ID:561989

Inertial electrostatic confinement fusion neutron source R & D and issues
Journal Article · Sun Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1997 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society · OSTI ID:552668

Inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) neutron sources
Conference · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1994 · OSTI ID:266964