New approaches in plasma neutron sources

Abstract

Possibilities to improve yield parameters of compact neutron sources (∼1 m) based on ion acceleration in plasma systems, including laser-produced plasma bundles, are considered. Among such systems, generating d–d and d–t neutrons, are the same: (a) high voltage discharge with inertial confinement in laser plasma intrinsic electrical fields; (b) conical shock wave propagation in laser-produced plasma on a solid conical cavity target with a strong axial magnetic field; (c) non-stationary laser plasma, produced by interaction of intensive laser irradiation with solid targets. The laser-produced plasma is used as a neutron target or a medium for deuteron collective acceleration. Preliminary results have pointed that in the pulse operation mode of the (a) and (b) systems it is possible to reach a neutron yield of up to 108–109 n/pulse (d–t reaction) without using the traditional combination of a solid neutron target and ion acceleration by an external electrical field. The neutron pulse duration is more than 10 μs and the device power consumption is about a few kJ/pulse. Some schemes of the presented neutron sources are discussed. The neutron-emitting part of such a source may be a few cubic cm in size.