Comparison of measured and computed neutron yield from PF1000 plasma focus device operated with deuterium gas

Abstract

The measured current wave shapes of PF1000 plasma focus discharged at 16 kV in deuterium in the pressure range 1.05–1.2 Torr are fitted to the computed current wave shapes using the Lee model code. Very good fit is achieved which suggests that the code is configured very well for the PF1000 for these shots. This is borne out by the computed neutron yield arising from each shot agreeing well with the measured yield. The computed average yield of 8 shots at 1.2 Torr is 1.78 × 109 neutrons per shot (n/sh) compared to the measured average yield of (1.75 ± 0.2) × 109 (n/sh). The computed average yield of 16 shots at 1.05 Torr is 2.33 × 109 (n/sh) compared also to the measured average of (2.29 ± 0.2) × 109 (n/sh). The conclusion is that the neutron production of the PF1000 is well estimated by the Lee Code simply by fitting the computed current wave shape to the measured current wave shape.