Abstract
The 3 H(d , γ )5 He reaction has been measured using a 500-keV pulsed deuteron beam incident on a stopping titanium tritide target at Ohio University’s Edwards Accelerator Laboratory. The time-of-flight (TOF) technique has been used to distinguish the γ -rays from neutrons detected in the bismuth germinate (BGO) γ -ray detector. A stilbene scintillator and an NE-213 scintillator have been used to detect the neutrons from the 3 H(d , n )4 He reaction using both the pulse-shape discrimination and TOF techniques. A newly-designed target holder with a silicon surface barrier detector to simultaneously measure α -particles to normalize the neutron count was incorporated for subsequent measurements. The γ -rays have been measured at laboratory angles of 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135°. Information about the γ -ray energy distribution for the unbound ground state and first excited state of 5 He can be obtained experimentally by comparing the BGO data to Monte Carlo simulations. The 3 H(d , γ )/3 H(d , n ) branching ratio has also been determined.
Highlights
The 3H(d, n)4He reaction has a very large cross section and provides the easiest approach to achieving fusion in the laboratory
One way to investigate the fusion burn in the deuterium-tritium fuel is by detecting γ-rays above about 10 MeV
As α-particles will be produced in a 1:1 ratio with the 14-MeV neutrons, a method to detect them was included in later measurements by placing a silicon surface-barrier detector inside the stainless steel target holder, vacuum sealed to the tritium disk holder
Summary
The 3H(d, n)4He reaction has a very large cross section and provides the easiest approach to achieving fusion in the laboratory. About 1 in 104 times in a deuterium-tritium environment, the 3H(d, γ)5He reaction can occur. This reaction has gained importance in the scientific community because of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) studies, at the National Ignition Facility. One way to investigate the fusion burn in the deuterium-tritium fuel is by detecting γ-rays above about 10 MeV. The 3H(d, γ)/ 3H(d, n) branching ratio has been previously measured, there is a discrepancy regarding the order of magnitude of the ratio This discrepancy between experimental results for similar deuteron energies are likely due to undetected systematic errors, such as the manner in which the neutron background was addressed.
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