Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Device
Recently, there has been intense interest in small dense plasma focus (DPF) devices for use as pulsed neutron and X-ray sources. Although DPFs have been studied for decades and scaling laws for neutron yield versus system discharge current and energy have been established (Milanese, M. et al., Eur....
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2018-04-01
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| Series: | Instruments |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2410-390X/2/2/6 |
| _version_ | 1811258974508417024 |
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| author | Nathan Majernik Seth Pree Yusuke Sakai Brian Naranjo Seth Putterman James Rosenzweig |
| author_facet | Nathan Majernik Seth Pree Yusuke Sakai Brian Naranjo Seth Putterman James Rosenzweig |
| author_sort | Nathan Majernik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recently, there has been intense interest in small dense plasma focus (DPF) devices for use as pulsed neutron and X-ray sources. Although DPFs have been studied for decades and scaling laws for neutron yield versus system discharge current and energy have been established (Milanese, M. et al., Eur. Phys. J. D 2003, 27, 77–81), there are notable deviations at low energies due to contributions from both thermonuclear and beam-target interactions (Schmidt, A. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 2012, 109, 1–4). For low energy DPFs (100 s of Joules), other empirical scaling laws have been found (Bures, B.L. et al., Phys. Plasmas 2012, 112702, 1–9). Although theoretical mechanisms to explain this change have been proposed, the cause of this reduced efficiency is not well understood. A new apparatus with advanced diagnostic capabilities allows us to probe this regime, including variants in which a piston gas is employed. Several complementary diagnostics of the pinch dynamics and resulting X-ray neutron production are employed to understand the underlying mechanisms involved. This apparatus is unique in its employment of a 50 fs laser-based shadowgraphy system that possesses unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:22:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76e7eb6a8f4246a28bdb31054880466f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2410-390X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:22:34Z |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Instruments |
| spelling | doaj.art-76e7eb6a8f4246a28bdb31054880466f2022-12-22T03:21:21ZengMDPI AGInstruments2410-390X2018-04-0122610.3390/instruments2020006instruments2020006Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion DeviceNathan Majernik0Seth Pree1Yusuke Sakai2Brian Naranjo3Seth Putterman4James Rosenzweig5Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USARecently, there has been intense interest in small dense plasma focus (DPF) devices for use as pulsed neutron and X-ray sources. Although DPFs have been studied for decades and scaling laws for neutron yield versus system discharge current and energy have been established (Milanese, M. et al., Eur. Phys. J. D 2003, 27, 77–81), there are notable deviations at low energies due to contributions from both thermonuclear and beam-target interactions (Schmidt, A. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 2012, 109, 1–4). For low energy DPFs (100 s of Joules), other empirical scaling laws have been found (Bures, B.L. et al., Phys. Plasmas 2012, 112702, 1–9). Although theoretical mechanisms to explain this change have been proposed, the cause of this reduced efficiency is not well understood. A new apparatus with advanced diagnostic capabilities allows us to probe this regime, including variants in which a piston gas is employed. Several complementary diagnostics of the pinch dynamics and resulting X-ray neutron production are employed to understand the underlying mechanisms involved. This apparatus is unique in its employment of a 50 fs laser-based shadowgraphy system that possesses unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution.http://www.mdpi.com/2410-390X/2/2/6dense plasma focusneutron sourceplasma pinchshadowgraph |
| spellingShingle | Nathan Majernik Seth Pree Yusuke Sakai Brian Naranjo Seth Putterman James Rosenzweig Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Device Instruments dense plasma focus neutron source plasma pinch shadowgraph |
| title | Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Device |
| title_full | Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Device |
| title_fullStr | Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Device |
| title_full_unstemmed | Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Device |
| title_short | Simultaneous Ultra-Fast Imaging and Neutron Emission from a Compact Dense Plasma Focus Fusion Device |
| title_sort | simultaneous ultra fast imaging and neutron emission from a compact dense plasma focus fusion device |
| topic | dense plasma focus neutron source plasma pinch shadowgraph |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2410-390X/2/2/6 |
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