Deuterium ions in vacuum arc plasma with composite gas-saturated zirconium cathode in a magnetic field

Abstract

Plasma containing deuterium ions has found wide application, for example and notably for generating neutron fluxes in nuclear fusion reactions. These reactions take place when a compressed plasma is heated to high temperature, or in nuclear reactions between energetic deuterium ion beams, obtained from deuterium-containing plasma, and a solid target containing heavy hydrogen isotopes. The vacuum arc discharge with composite cathode made of a metal saturated with deuterium provides one possible means for generating deuterium plasma. In the work described here, we have explored the mass-to-charge composition of the pulsed vacuum arc plasma formed from a zirconium cathode saturated with deuterium. The plasma composition is compared for cases when the cathode is deuterium-saturated and non-saturated, as well as for the case when an axial magnetic field of 0.5 T is applied in the arc cathode region. We show that the number of deuterium ions per zirconium ion in the vacuum arc plasma formed from a deuterium-saturated zirconium cathode is, on average, 1.4 which is two times greater than the number of deuterium atoms per zirconium atom in the cathode material. With a 0.5 Т magnetic field applied, this ratio increases up to 4.4. The results are discussed.