Anode shape dependency of discharge characteristics and neutron yield of a linear type inertial electrostatic confinement fusion neutron source

A linear inertial electrostatic confinement fusion neutron source equipped with a cooling system for high power operation was developed and its discharge characteristics and neutron production performance were tested under a wide range of discharge conditions. Four different types of discharge anodes were prepared and the dependencies of the device performance on the anode shape were precisely investigated. A maximum neutron production rate of 3.4×106 n/s was achieved when the device was operated with single-cylinder-type anodes under a discharge voltage of 94 kV, a current of 20 mA , and a deuterium gas pressure of 0.5 Pa. By comparing the discharge characteristics and neutron generation rates under different anode shapes, we found that the larger inner diameter of the anode leads to longer effective gap length and lower operating pressure, which may result in relatively high fusion reaction rate observed with the single-cylinder-type anodes. © 2020 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.