Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-2024
Abstract
This document presents an investigation of the effect of deuterated accelerator targets on the neutron fluence from a local mass injection dense plasma focus (LMIDPF) driven by the United States Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Hawk pulsed-power generator. Deuterated targets were made using two methods: a well-established thin-film casting technique for flat targets and a more novel additive manufacturing technique that allowed targets to be three-dimensional (3D) printed in both flat and conical geometries. These targets were then tested during neutron-producing experiments conducted using Hawk, and theneutron fluences measured for the various target types were compared. Additive manufacturing was used as a production method in order to determine if deuterated accelerator targets could be 3D printed and if their fluence would be significantly different from the fluence with the traditional method of thin-film casting. Specifically, photopolymerization-based 3D printing was performed, and it successfully produced both deuterated and nondeuterated polymer targets in disc and cone geometries. Results were inconclusive with regard to the relationship between any of the deuterated targets and increased neutron production, but diagnostic analysis revealed correlations between increased neutron production and increased chamber voltage, power delivered at the time of the pinch, signal level recorded in a plastic-scintillator-photomultiplier detector, and radioactivity induced in the target as measured by a sodium iodide detector. The targets showed impressive durability and the potential for reusability. However, it was not possible to discern the influence of the targets on the neutron yield in the face of significant shot-to-shot scatter in the performance of the plasma focus, the inherent uncertainty in the bubble detector measurements of the neutron fluence, and relatively low deuteration of the 3D-printed targets.
Source Publication
Journal of Radiation Effects Research and Engineering
Recommended Citation
Hagey, A. O., Manfredi, J. J., Jackson, S. L., Dailey, W. T., Kaiser, E. R., & Schumer, J. W. (2024) Pulsed-Power Neutron Production with Deuterated Polymer Accelerator Targets. Journal of Radiation Effects Research and Engineering, 42, (1), 158-171.
Comments
Distribution A: Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. This work was sponsored by the Air Force Institute of Technology and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Base Program.