Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Shaw, B. H.
• Chapman, S.
• Cooper, C. M.
• Goyon, C.
• Angus, J.
• Link, A.
• Higginson, D. P.
• Liu, J. X.
• Mitrani, J. M.
• Podpaly, Y. A.
• Povilus, A.
• Schmidt, A.

Titel

Maximizing neutron yields by scaling hollow diameter of a dense plasma focus anode

Ist Teil von

• Journal of applied physics, 2018-12, Vol.124 (23)

Ort / Verlag

Melville: American Institute of Physics

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Quelle

Scitation (American Institute of Physics)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Experiments were performed to maximize the neutron yield from a 2 kJ dense plasma focus (DPF) and characterize the amount of copper sputtered from the surface of an anode by varying the diameter of the anodes’ on-axis hollow. The hollow is a void in the copper material along the longitudinal axis of the anode. All the anodes had an outer diameter of 1.2 in. and the diameter of the hollow varied from 0 in. (no hollow) to 1 in. The anodes with a hollow produced a greater number of neutrons per discharge than the anode without a hollow. Over 40 discharges, the hollow anode that yielded the most neutrons (9.1 ±0.4 ×10 6 neutrons per discharge produced with the 0.75 in. hollow) produced >6 times more neutrons than the anode with no hollow. A qualitative observation of the anodes after 130 discharges showed less surface damage on anodes with a larger hollow. Quantitative sputter measurements were performed by characterizing the amount of copper sputtered onto on-axis quartz targets for three newly machined anodes, each with a particular hollow diameter. The quantitative results matched the qualitative observations: the copper sputter was reduced using larger hollows. The largest hollow sputtered 17 ±1.0 nm/sr/discharge of copper, a reduction of 69 % compared to the anode with the most damage.