Negative ion-driven associated particle neutron generator

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2015.09.097
• Publication Date: 2015-10-20T05:12:57Z
• Authors: A.J. Antolak; K.N. Leung; D.H. Morse; D.C. Donovan; J.M. Chames; J.A. Whaley; D.A. Buchenauer; A.X. Chen; P.A. Hausladen; F. Liang
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 7. Clean energy; 01 natural sciences

Abstract An associated particle neutron generator is described that employs a negative ion source to produce high neutron flux from a small source size. Negative ions produced in an rf-driven plasma source are extracted through a small aperture to form a beam which bombards a positively biased, high voltage target electrode . Electrons co-extracted with the negative ions are removed by a permanent magnet electron filter. The use of negative ions enables high neutron output (100% atomic ion beam), high quality imaging (small neutron source size), and reliable operation (no high voltage breakdowns). The neutron generator can operate in either pulsed or continuous-wave (cw) mode and has been demonstrated to produce 10 6 D–D n/s (equivalent to ~108 D–T n/s) from a 1 mm-diameter neutron source size to facilitate high fidelity associated particle imaging.