D-D and D-/sup 3/He proton measurements of cylindrical radially convergent beam fusion

Summary form only given. Radially convergent beam fusion (RCBF) device is a compact fusion neutron/proton source with extremely simple configuration, high controllability, and hence high safety. It has been mainly studied for practical use as a portable neutron source for various applications such a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yamauchi, K., Ohura, S., Nozaki, K., Watanabe, M., Okino, A., Kohno, T., Hotta, E., Yuura, M.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Controllability
Deuterium
Helium
Magnetic separation
Neutrons
Particle beam measurements
Particle beams
Protons
Safety devices
X-rays
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Summary:Summary form only given. Radially convergent beam fusion (RCBF) device is a compact fusion neutron/proton source with extremely simple configuration, high controllability, and hence high safety. It has been mainly studied for practical use as a portable neutron source for various applications such as landmine detection, and the results of previous studies indicate that the RCBF device has a high potential as a neutron source. On the other hand, however, the RCBF device as a proton source has not been investigated sufficiently. In this study, not only neutrons but also protons generated by D-D and D- 3 He reactions in a cylindrical RCBF device were measured for practical proton source. In order to detect protons, a solid-state detector (SSD) was used. However, there is a difficulty in applying the SSD to the RCBF device. The SSD can not discriminate protons from X-rays, which are produced simultaneously in the RCBF device. In addition, it is difficult to stop the X-rays with a metallic foil filter because of its high transmittance. Therefore, a new proton counting system based on magnetic deflection was designed and used to eliminate the X-rays. The system has three magnetic deflectors, which consist of a pair of neodymium magnets. The SSD position in this system was determined by a calculation of the deflected proton trajectory. At first, the cylindrical RCBF device was operated using only deuterium gas. Generated D-D protons of 3.03 MeV were measured with and without this proton counting system, and the count rate was compared with that of D-D neutrons. Then D- 3 He protons of 14.7 MeV were counted feeding not only deuterium gas but also helium-3 gas. By comparing D- 3 He proton and D-D neutron count rates, the optimal ratio of helium-3 gas to deuterium gas was obtained
ISSN:0730-9244
2576-7208
DOI:10.1109/PLASMA.2006.1706959