Abstract
Z-pinch experiments with a hybrid configuration of a deuterium gas puff have been carried out on the HAWK (NRL, Washington, DC) and GIT-12 (IHCE, Tomsk) pulsed power generators at 0.7 MA and 3 MA currents, respectively. On GIT-12, neutron yields reached an average value of 2 × 1012 neutrons, and deuterons were accelerated up to an energy of 30 MeV. This was 50 times the ion energy provided by the generator driving voltage of 0.6 MV and the highest energy observed in z-pinches and dense plasma foci. To confirm these unique results independently on another device, we performed several experimental campaigns on the HAWK generator. Comparison of the experiments on GIT-12 and HAWK helped us to understand which parameters are essential for optimized neutron production. Since the HAWK generator is of a similar pulsed power architecture as GIT-12, the experiments on GIT-12 and HAWK are important for the study of how charged-particle acceleration scales with the current.
Highlights
Z-pinches are known to be efficient sources of x-rays, neutrons, and charged particles.1,2 As early as the 1950s, z-pinches were investigated as a potential route to thermonuclear fusion
One of the first essential results was that the highest neutron yields were achieved with a relatively low mass of deuterium gas and with an outer hollow cylindrical plasma shell injected at a large radius
The preceding sections have presented the experimental results from neutron, ion, and activation measurements on the GIT-12 and HAWK generators
Summary
Z-pinches are known to be efficient sources of x-rays, neutrons, and charged particles. As early as the 1950s, z-pinches were investigated as a potential route to thermonuclear fusion. In comparison with previous deuterium gas-puff experiments at the same current, the maximum neutron yield in our hybrid gas puff was increased by one order of magnitude (with an average value of 2 3 1012 neutrons24,26), and deuterons were accelerated up to an energy of 30 MeV.27 This is 50 times the ion energy provided by the generator driving voltage of. A significant current drop is attributed to a transition from a low-impedance plasma to a spacecharge-limited flow (or self-magnetic insulation) in a gap formed after the ejection of plasmas from m 0 constrictions This behavior is analogous to the main principle of plasma-filled diodes and may play an important role in dense plasma foci and x-pinches.. The experiments on GIT12 and HAWK are important for studies on how charged-particle acceleration scales with current
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