Z-pinch experiments with deuterium gas puffs have been carried out on the GIT-12 generator at 3 MA currents. Recently, a novel configuration of a deuterium gas-puff z-pinch was used to accelerate deuterons and to generate fast neutrons. In order to form a homogeneous, uniformly conducting layer at a large initial radius, an inner deuterium gas puff was surrounded by an outer hollow cylindrical plasma shell. The plasma shell consisting of hydrogen and carbon ions was formed at the diameter of 350 mm by 48 plasma guns. A linear mass of the plasma shell was about 5 µg cm −1 whereas a total linear mass of deuterium gas in single or double shell gas puffs was about 100 µg cm −1 . The implosion lasted 700 ns and seemed to be stable up to a 5 mm radius. During stagnation, m = 0 instabilities became more pronounced. When a disruption of necks occurred, the plasma impedance reached 0.4 Ω and high energy (>2 MeV) bremsstrahlung radiation together with high energy deuterons were produced. Maximum neutron energies of 33 MeV were observed by axial time-of-flight detectors. The observed neutron spectra could be explained by a suprathermal distribution of deuterons with a high energy tail. Neutron yields reached 3.6 × 10 12 at a 2.7 MA current. A high neutron production efficiency of 6 × 10 7 neutrons per one joule of plasma energy resulted from the generation of high energy deuterons and from their magnetization inside plasmas.

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A novel configuration of a deuterium z pinch has been used to generate fusion neutrons. Injecting an outer hollow cylindrical plasma shell around an inner deuterium gas puff, neutron yields from DD reactions reached Y(n)=(2.9 ± 0.3) × 10(12) at 700 ns implosion time and 2.7 MA current. Such a neutron yield means a tenfold increase in comparison with previous deuterium gas puff experiments at the same current generator. The increase of beam-target yields was obtained by a larger amount of current assembled on the z-pinch axis, and subsequently by higher induced voltage and higher energies of deuterons. A stack of CR-39 track detectors on the z-pinch axis showed hydrogen ions up to 38 MeV. Maximum neutron energies of 15 and 22 MeV were observed by radial and axial time-of-flight detectors, respectively. The number of DD neutrons per one joule of stored plasma energy approached 5 × 10(7). This implies that deuterium gas puff z pinches belong to the most efficient plasma-based sources of DD neutrons.

Acceleration of high energy ions was observed in z-pinches and dense plasma foci as early as the 1950s. Even though many theories have been suggested, the ion acceleration mechanism remains a source of controversy. Recently, the experiments on the GIT-12 generator demonstrated acceleration of ions up to 30 MeV from a deuterium gas-puff z-pinch. High deuteron energies enable us to obtain unique information about spatial, spectral and temporal properties of accelerated ions. In particular, the offaxis ion emission from concentric circles of a ∼1 cm diameter and the radial lines in an ion beam profile are germane for the discussion of acceleration mechanisms. The acceleration of 30 MeV deuterons can be explained by the fast increase of an impedance with a sub-nanosecond e-folding time. The high (>10 Ω) impedance is attributed to a space-charge limited flow after the effective ejection of plasmas from m=0 constrictions. Detailed knowledge of the ion acceleration mechanism is used with a neutron-producing catcher to increase neutron yields above 10 13 at a currentof2.7 MA.

Deuterium gas-puff experiments have been carried out on the GIT-12 generator at the Institute of High Current Electronics in Tomsk. The emphasis was put on the study of plasma dynamics and neutron production in double shell gas puffs. A linear mass density of deuterium (D2) varied between 50 and 85 μg/cm. Somewhat problematic was a spread of the D2 gas at a large diameter in the central anode–cathode region. The generator operated in two regimes, with and without a plasma opening switch (POS). When the POS was used, a current reached a peak of 2.7 MA with a 200 ns rise time. Without the POS, a current rise time approached 1500 ns. The influence of different current rise times on neutron production was researched. Obtained results were important for comparison of fast deuterium Z-pinches with plasma foci. Average DD neutron yields with and without the POS were about 1011. The neutron yield seems to be dependent on a peak voltage at the Z-pinch load. In all shots, the neutron emission started during stagnation. At the beginning of the neutron production, the neutron emission correlated with soft x-rays and a significant fraction of neutrons could be explained by the thermonuclear mechanism. Nevertheless, a peak of the neutron emission occurred 40 ns after a soft x-ray peak. At this very moment, hard x-rays above 1 MeV were detected and a rapid expansion with a velocity of 3×105 m/s was observed. In the case of the POS, 1 MeV widths of radial neutron spectra implied that there are deuterons with the energy above 200 keV moving in the radial direction. On the basis of D2 gas puff experiments in the 0.3–17 MA region, the neutron yield dependence on a current as Y∝I3.0±0.2 was proposed.

A novel configuration of a deuterium z-pinch has been used to generate a nanosecond pulse of fast ions and neutrons. At a 3 MA current, the peak neutron yield of (3.6 ± 0.5) × 1012 was emitted within 20 ns implying the production rate of 1020 neutrons/s. High neutron yields resulted from the magnetization of MeV deuterons inside plasmas. Whereas deuterons were trapped in the radial direction, a lot of fast ions escaped the z-pinch along the z-axis. A large number of >25 MeV ions were emitted into a 250 mrad cone. The cut-off energy of broad energy spectra of hydrogen ions approached 40 MeV. The total number of >1 MeV and >25 MeV deuterons were 1016 and 1013, respectively. Utilizing these ions offers a real possibility of various applications, including the increase of neutron yields or the production of short-lived isotopes in samples placed in ion paths. On the basis of our experiments with various samples, we concluded that a single shot would have been sufficient to obtain GBq positron activity of 13N isotopes via the 12C(d,n)13N reaction. Furthermore, the first z-pinch generated neutron radiograph produced by ≈20 ns pulses is presented in this paper.

Experiments with deuterium (D 2 ) triple shell gas puffs were carried out on the GIT-12 generator at a 3 MA current level and microsecond implosion times. The outer, middle and inner nozzle diameters were 160 mm, 80 mm and 30 mm, respectively. The influence of the mass of deuterium shells on neutron emission times, neutron yields and neutron energy spectra was studied. The injected linear mass of deuterium varied between 50 and 255 µg cm −1 . Gas puffs imploded onto the axis before the peak of generator current at 700-1100 ns. Most of the neutrons were emitted during the second neutron pulse after the development of instabilities. Despite higher currents, heavier gas puffs produced lower neutron yields. Optimal mass and a short time delay between the valve opening and the generator triggering were more important than the better coincidence of stagnation with peak current. The peak neutron yield from D(d, n) 3 He reactions reached 3 × 10 11 at 2.8 MA current, 90 µg cm −1 injected linear mass and 37 mm anode-cathode gap. In the case of lower mass shots, a large number of 10 MeV neutrons were produced either by secondary DT reactions or by DD reactions of deuterons with energies above 7 MeV. The average neutron yield ratio Y >10 MeV /Y 2.5 MeV reached (6 ± 3) × 10 −4 . Such a result can be explained by a power law distribution for deuterons as dN d /dE d ∝ E −3 d . The optimization of a D 2 gas puff Z-pinch and similarities to a plasma focus and its drive parameter are described.

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