Simultaneous Neutron and Proton Measurements of D-D and D-3He Fusion Reaction in an Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Device

An inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IECF) device can produce copious amount of neutrons and protons from D-D and D-³ He fusion reactions using D₂ and ³He fuels. The 14.7 MeV protons from D-³He reactions are highly energetic and are expected to be utilized to produce radioisotopes for medical use, for example, positron emission tomography (PET). In order to measure the reaction rate of D-³He, a proton counting system is constructed using a semiconductor diode detector. When used with a metallic foil and a electron deflection magnet, the present proton counting system provides a good signal/noise ratio for 14.7 MeV protons even in the presence of high energy electron beams, hard X-rays, and metallic ions from sputtering. The 14.7 MeV proton production rate has been measured as a function of D₂-³He fuel composition and the discharge bias voltage, which agree well with the theoretical predictions