Measured light from an IEC

Summary form only given. Light measurements of the Balmer /spl beta/-line of a deuterium plasma on an IEC (inertial electrostatic confinement) device are used to investigate the ICC (inertial collisional compression) theory proposed by R.W. Bussard et al. (1992). These measurements also serve as an important benchmark for the computer simulation code PDS-1 (Plasma Device Spherical 1-dimensional). The light intensity shows a steady decrease following, as expected, the cross sectional values at low voltage ranges (< 40 kV). At higher voltages, however, an increase in the light intensity to neutron rate ratio has been observed. This may be attributed to the ICC effect, which predicts a nonlinear increase in light intensity measurement at higher core densities.