Characteristics of Neutron Pulses at PF- 1000

Abstract

The energy of neutrons and time of their generation are determined from seven scintillation detectors positioned in the axial direction. At the onset, each neutron pulse has beam‐target origin with downstream energies in range of 2.7–3.2 MeV. The final part of neutrons has isotropic energy distribution with energies up to 2.6–2.7 MeV. The evolution of the neutron pulses correlates with the visible frames. The first pulse correlates with the fast downstream zipper‐effect of the axis layer of the pinch and with the forming of the radiating ball‐shaped structure at the bottom of the dilating plasma sheath. The second neutron pulse correlates with the second pinching and exploding of the plasma of lower density and with the structure of the dense plasma at the bottom of the dilating current sheath, similarly to the first pulse. The possible influence of the zipper‐effect on the acceleration of deuterons and on the plasma heating is discussed.