Recent experimental study of DD fusion in the potential well of a virtual cathode at nanosecond vacuum discharge

Abstract

Processes of nuclear burning of various elements in the scheme of a compact inertial electrostatic confinement implemented on the basis of a nanosecond vacuum discharge (NVD) with low-energy hollow cathode were investigated experimentally earlier. This paper presents the results of a recent series of DD fusion experiments on the newly created experimental set-up NVD-2 combined with x-ray and neutron yield diagnostics. The voltage-current (VA) characteristics of the discharge, and the regimes of generation of x-ray and DD neutrons realized experimentally are presented and discussed. The experimental results are compared with the results of particle-in-cell simulation of the nuclear DD fusion processes in NVD using electrodynamic code KARAT. Recent series of DD fusion experiments have reproducing in TOF scheme some basic features of DD neutrons yield observed earlier. Meanwhile, the analysis of V-A characteristics and anode erosion shows that efficiency of energy deposition at initial stage of discharge is still insufficient, and the ways to optimize the electrophysical processes at NVD-2 are clarified.