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U.S. Department of Energy
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LLL experiments in collective field acceleration

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7120766

A collective field accelerator (CFA) was developed at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) which operates with a vacuum diode. This diode utilizes a graphite cathode and a dielectric anode that operates with a relativistic electron beam with a ..nu../..gamma.. of approximately 1. Dielectric lenses are used to focus the collectively accelerated electrons and ions which are ejected from a central hole in the anode. The dielectric anode and lenses operate as unoptimized rf cavities which modulate and focus the beam. Diode experiments aimed at directing and stabilizing relativistic plasma filaments have led to appreciably higher ion energy. CFA experiments were conducted with the LLL Pulserad 422 e-beam machine which delivers approximately 2.5 kJ at 1 M volt to the diode in 50 ns. The pertinent results are: maximum proton energy greater than 45 MeV, number of protons approximately 10/sup 14/ per burst, heavy ion energy 7 MeV per nucleon, DD neutrons greater than 10/sup 11/ per burst, p,n neutrons greater than 10/sup 10/ per burst. Of the nuclear reactions which occur, twenty-eight were verified through radionuclide identification using a Ge-Li detector. These nuclides were produced with carbon and fluorine ions impinging on Al, Cu and Ta targets. A large number of proton and deuteron reactions were also verified.

Research Organization:
California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
7120766
Report Number(s):
UCID-17232; CONF-760958-9
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English