Performance of Neutron/Proton Source Based on Ion-Source-Assisted Radially Convergent Beam Fusion

Summary form only given. Radially convergent beam fusion (RCBF) has been studied for practical use as a portable neutron/proton source for various applications such as landmine detection and medical positron emission tomography. However, some problems remain for the practical use, and the most critical one is the insufficiency of absolute neutron/proton yields. In this study, a new RCBF device was designed and tested to obtain high neutron/proton yields. The key features of the new device are the cylindrical electrode configuration in consideration of better electrostatic confinement of ions and extraction of protons, and an integrated bucket-type ion source which consists of sixteen ferrite magnets and sixteen filaments. To investigate the performance characteristics of the device and the effect of the ion source, three types of experimental setup were used for comparison. At first, the basic RCBF setup was operated. Then a cusp magnetic field was applied by using ferrite magnets, and a thermionic cathode was added. As a result, it was confirmed that the ion source works effectively. At the same discharge condition of voltage and current, the obtained neutron production rate was about one order of magnitude higher than that of the conventional spherical RCBF device. The maximum neutron production rate of 6.8times10⁹ n/s was obtained at a pulsed discharge of -70 kV, 10 A