Title: Total fusion yield measurements using deuterium-tritium gamma rays

Abstract

The deuterium–tritium (DT) fusion reaction, $D{(T,\gamma )}^5\text{He}$, has a rare (4.2 $\times {10}^{–5}$) branching ratio that releases a ~16 MeV gamma ray instead of the more common 14.1 MeV fusion neutron. These fusion gamma rays can be used as a complementary source of measuring the net fusion yield of experiments. Fusion gamma rays have the advantage of having negligible Doppler broadening, being isotropic and less down-scattered compared to fusion neutrons. At the National Ignition Facility, we measured the DT fusion gamma rays by the Gamma Reaction History diagnostic that thresholds to only measure >10 MeV gamma rays. After removing a ~12% contribution from neutron capture interactions in deuterium, $D(n,\gamma )T$, and carbon, ${}^{12}C{(n,\gamma )}^{13}C$, the deviation between GRH measurements and neutron-based yield measurements has been reduced to 10%. Further improvements are needed for detailed physics comparison.

Authors:

Meaney, K. D.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-1142-7360"

Kim, Y.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-5002-0964"

Geppert-Kleinrath, H.  ^[1];

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Herrmann, H. W.  ^[1];

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Moore, A. S.  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-2125-8882"

Hartouni, E. P.  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-9869-4351"

Schlossberg, D. J.  ^[2];

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Mariscal, E.  ^[2];

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Carrera, J.  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-9561-4739"

Church, J. A.  ^[2]

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-5588-3782"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Publication Date:

Mon Oct 25 00:00:00 EDT 2021

Research Org.:

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1843561

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1829647

Report Number(s):

LLNL-JRNL-825430; LA-UR-21-21896
Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X; 1035906; TRN: US2302286

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC52-07NA27344; 89233218CNA000001

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Physics of Plasmas

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 28; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; gamma rays; tritium; deuterium; detectors; photomultipliers; radioactive decay; nuclear fusion; neutron capture