J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:235–239
DOI 10.1007/s10894-009-9196-z
REVIEW PAPER
Investigation of the High Pressure Regimes Effects
on the Neutron Production in Plasma Focus
Ahmad Talaei Æ S. M. Sadat Kiai
Published online: 20 March 2009
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract Effects of high pressure regimes on the thermal
mechanism of neutron yield and anisotropy factor with
respect to the capacitor bank energy are presented by using
moving boiler model. It is found that at high pressures, the
thermal fusion reactions have a considerable effect on the
neutron yield and anisotropy factor. We have compared the
manner of the anisotropy in two low and high pressure
discharges to investigate different behavior of the anisot-
ropy factor as a function of bank energy in the difference
working regimes of pressure for Dena PF.
Keywords Plasma focus device

Thermonuclear and non-thermonuclear mechanisms

Anisotropy factor
Boiler moving model
Introduction
Plasma focus devices can generate dense and hot plasma
due to the radial compression and electromagnetic accel-
eration. When the fast switch closes, the energy stored in
the capacitor bank released to the electrodes and the deu-
terium (D) gas is ionized and the plasma sheath is formed
(break-down). The plasma sheath moves axially along the
electrodes assembly under the effect of Lorentz force (axial
A. Talaei
Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4413,
Tehran, Iran
e-mail: ahmad.talaei@gmail.com
S. M. Sadat Kiai (&)
Nuclear Science & Technology Research Institute (NSTR),
Nuclear Science Research, A.E.O.I, 14155-1339 Tehran, Iran
e-mail: sadatkiai@yahoo.com
phase) and after that the plasma sheath converts to cylin-
drical shape (radial phase) and the hot and dense focus
(pinch phase), in which fusion reactions occur, is formed at
the open end of the anode. The energy of the capacitors
bank is accumulated and converted in the pinched plasma.
The instabilities are the main cause of pinch column col-
lapse and accelerate the electrons and ions towards the
inner and outer electrodes, respectively (current abrup-
tion). The processes of dynamical pinch for the neutron
emissions has two phases: compression (thermal) and
expansion (non-thermal) phases which the fusion yield is
the combination of the both phases.
Dena PF is a Filippov-Type PF and has the energy
source with total capacitor and inductance of the bank
288 lF and 1.7 nH, respectively (Fig. 1). The maximum
operating voltage is 25 kV (90 kJ) which deliver a peak
discharge current of about 2.8 MA into a short circuit with
a rise time of 4 ls. Dena has an anode in the center, a disc
48 cm diameter and 15.5 cm length. The aluminum cath-
ode has 65 cm in diameter. The anode is made of copper
and at its center a conic insert anode made of copper
tungsten alloy can easily be replaced. The discharge cur-
rent signal and its derivative are measured by Rogowski
coil and magnetic probe. PIN diode (SPPD II-02 type) is
filtered with a 10 lm thick Beryllium window which
measures the time-resolved soft X-ray signal. The time-
resolved and time-integrated hard X-ray intensity mea-
surements are registered using NaI and NE-102 plastic
scintillater coupled to photo element coaxial and photo-
multiplier, respectively.
We may develop the radial phase combining the mag-
netic piston with the motion of the shock wave driven by
the magnetic piston (slug model). Hence, we can consider a
strong shock wave introduced into the integral gas due to
the motion of the current sheath. When sound speed is
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236 J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:235–239

Thermonuclear Neutron Yield

The total neutron yield resulted by thermonuclear reactions

during a short period of time when the density and tem-
perature are sufficiently high is given by:
!
n2p
Yth ¼ hrvip prp2 zsP ð3Þ
2

where np is the deuteron’s density (m-3), hrvi the thermal

collision rate(m3/s), and s the pinch duration. The subscript
P in the equation refers to the pinch. For the Maxwellian
ion distribution the reaction rate for the thermal reaction is
evaluated by integration of the cross section over the
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of Dena. 1 cathode, 2 anode, 3 insulator, 4
anode insert, 5 pin diode, 6 G-M counter, 7 NaI scintillator, 8 pin-hole velocity distribution. Therefore, the collision rate for the
camera, 9 magnetic probe, 10 photo multiplier plasma with the temperature T C 1 keV is given by [4]:
!
3:5  1020 20:1
large compared to the particles speed the kinetic pressure hrvith ¼ 2=3
exp  1=3 ð4Þ
TD TD
between the shock and the current sheath is [1]:

 where TD is the deuterons temperature expressed in keV.
2
P¼ q v2 ð1Þ The thermonuclear neutrons yield (Eq. 3) can be calculated
1þc 0 s
as a function of the initial parameters in the Bennett
where vs and P are the shock speed the pressure equilibrium [5]:
immediately behind the shock front. The total inductance

19=6

h C ð P0 Þ Ltot 7=6
Ltot is the sum of the external circuit Lext and plasma Yth ¼
rp 1:6  1019 fb U0
inductance Lp. The inductance of the plasma is written as

1=3 ! ð5Þ
[2]: 4 Ltot


   exp 1:0986  10
dLp l0 b z CðP0 Þfb U0
¼ ln Va þ Vr ð2Þ
dt 2p rp rp
where fb is the coefficient of the initial energy stored in the
where Va is the speed of CS during rundown phase, Vr in the capacitor bank (U0) which will be transferred to the pin-
radial compression phase, b the cathode radius, rp the pinch ched plasma(nb = 0.5 - 1) and C ¼ 16p2 flP0 KT 0
2 2 a
r 0 ða rP Þ
radius, and z the pinch length. The external inductance of the function of PF initial conditions.
Dena PF is summarized as sum of the inductances of the
capacitor bank, cables, and Spark-Gap of the order of 27 nH. Non-Thermal Neutron Yield
With a peak current of 1.2 MA in the conditions of 37 kJ and
0.35 torr, the total inductance rapidly grows up from 27 to At low pressure and/or low discharge energies (less than
about 39 nH when the current sheath grows up from the first 1 torr and 20 kJ for Dena PF) the non-thermal mechanism
phase to plasma compression. plays an important role in neutron production. This process
is explained by the acceleration of the deuterons due to the
lower electron and gas densities in the plasma and in the
Neutron Production surroundings volume. Therefore, in the cool pinched
plasma the generation of the neutrons by non-thermal
The high density pinches can generate large amount of reactions (up to 3 MeV) is more than thermal one, gener-
radiation, including radio waves, X-rays, gamma rays and ally assigned to the non-thermal mechanism. This
neutrons (when the filling gas is D). The neutron is pro- interaction of the ion–ion stream which is captured and
duced by the thermal and non-thermal mechanisms [3]. The gyrated by a magnetic field of the pinch and head-on ion -
thermal mechanism is developed in the thermal equilibrium with the pinched plasma results in second pulse of neutron
by the interaction between thermal deuterons in the pin- emission. The SXR (electron Bremsstrahlung in the ther-
ched plasma focus and the non-thermal mechanism for the mal plasma) and the HXR (belong to non-thermal,
fusion reactions is characterized by interaction between interaction of electron beam with the anode surface) are the
energetic ions. signatures of thermal and non-thermal mechanisms. The

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J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:235–239
neutron yield proceeding non-thermonuclear reactions
during the second period is [5]:
Z deuterons which are responsible for the neutron emission. In
 
Ynonth ¼ nifast niplas: rvifast Vdt ð6Þ
snonth
where nifast is the density of fast deuterons with the energy
range of 20keV \Ed \150keV ; niplas. the density of pinched
deuterons in plasma with the thermal energy range, r the
cross section of fusion reaction of deuterons, vifast the
velocity of the fast ions, Vthe volume of the pinch, and snon-th
the time of non-thermal reactions. The total neutron yield is
the number of the neutrons produced during a single shut and
emitted in various directions which is measured by NE-102
plastic scintillators detectors placed at equal distance and
different angels around the Dena PF. We sum up Eqs. 5 and
6 for obtaining the total neutron yield.
Different Pressure regimes in Dens PF
Base on the literature and experiments done with Dena PF,
the existence of each mechanism (thermal and non-ther-
mal) is strongly depended on the initial working conditions
such as filling gas pressure and capacitor bank energy.
Hence, the investigations of the experimental results with
Dena PF containing D2 ? 1% Kr as working gas with
conic insert anode in the constant discharge voltage show
existing three working pressure regimes: low, optimum,
and high pressure regimes. In low pressure regimes
(P0 & 0.3 - 1 torr) the neutron is simultaneously pro-
duced by even thermal and non-thermal mechanisms. In
this case, the plasma column is highly unstable because of
MHD instabilities and the total value of the neutron yield is
found to be low with fluence anisotropy highest. In opti-
mum pressure (P0 & 1–2 torr) the neutron yield has the
highest value which is produced by two mechanisms.
However, the anisotropy drops lower in spite of further
increases in the pressure than before regime. In high
pressure (P0 C 2 torr) the anisotropy drops very lower than
others and the thermal mechanism has very important rule
in producing neutron yield. The plasma column is stable,
although it moves away from the anode like a jet and it is
called a moving boiler. The neutron emission is lower than
before regime and fluence anisotropy is increased [6, 7].
Anisotropy at The Low Pressures
A large number of measurements show that the neutron
emission spectra from plasma focus devices are characterized
by a marked anisotropy. The value of the neutron emission
anisotropy factor is determined by A = Un(0)/Un(90), in
which Un(0) and Un(90) are the neutron fluxes in the axial
and radial directions with respect to the anode axis.
237
The anisotropy of the neutron emission in a z-pinch is
evidence of some preferred directions for the motion of the
a thermal mechanism for a neutron production, the neutron
emission has no preferred direction (at low pressure
regimes). In a detailed analysis of the neutron production
mechanisms in z-pinches, it is noted that the anisotropy of
the neutron emission is the experimental fact inconsistent
with the thermonuclear neutron emission [8]. Accordingly,
the existence of anisotropy in the neutron emission is
interpreted as evidence in favor of the non-thermal mecha-
nism. This is realized that at low energies (U0 B 20 kJ in
our case), the non-thermal reactions play an important role
in neutron generation but by increasing the bank energy the
thermal reactions dominate. At low pressures, the experi-
ments show the anisotropy factor increases when the bank
energy decreases and vice versa [5]. However, at this regime
for the analysis of the anisotropy of the neutron emission we
ignored the fact that the drift motion of deuterons of a pinch
leads to a predominant motion of the deuterons, responsible
for the neutron emission toward the axis and thereby cause
anisotropy of the neutron emission by the thermonuclear
mechanism. As we mentioned before, in this case, the
plasma column is highly unstable due to MHD instabilities
and the neutron emission is found to be low with fluence
anisotropy highest. This behavior may be explained by the
well known acceleration of deuterons to higher energies in
low pressure, and the lower electron and gas densities in the
plasma and in the surroundings, respectively.
Anisotropy Factor at High Pressures
At high pressures, anisotropy has a difficult structure due to
the high particles densities and low deuterons energies. In
fact, it was observed that fast ions emission decreases with
increasing in the filling pressure [9]. From the literature for
investigation of the particles behavior in such plasma, a
boiler moving model is suggested [7]. Base on boiler moving
model the dense and hot plasma boiler which moves along
the axis of the device is formed. The neutron production of a
plasma focus is usually interpreted by the thermonuclear
reactions in moving boiler and by target reactions of the
ambient plasma or gas with boiler plasma. The total number
of neutron yield over the volume of the boiler Vb, and life-
time of the moving boiler s is given by [10]:

 
1 Va
Yboiler ¼ n2 hrvith þ nna hrvidrift  hrvith Vb s
2 Vb
ð7Þ
Where n is the plasma density in the boiler, na the
density of the ambient plasma or gas that is at rest, and Va
the part of the volume which is penetrated by the ions of
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238 J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:235–239

the ambient plasma. The hrvidrift is the value of the moving the particles. In Fig. 3 (we have presented y as a function of
plasma reacting with resting test particles. For the ratio y of bank energy for k = 0.01 and different temperature of the
the fusion reactions in the moving boiler follows [10]: boiler), by increasing the bank energy the ratio y increases.

 This means that the fusion reactions in the axially motion
Yboiler hrvidrift
y¼ ¼ 1 þ 2k 1 ð8Þ of the moving boiler increases (Eq. 8) so the anisotropy
Yth hrvith
factor increases. We can compare the results shown in
with k = naVa/nVb(k = 0.01–0.1). The enhancement of the Fig. 3 with which is presented in Fig. 2 for 2 torr pressure.
fusion reaction rate in the thermal plasma moving is shown For example, with the operational conditions of 1 keV,
in Eq. 8 as a boiler goes through the ambient plasma. The 47 kJ, and 2 torr, the thermal neutron yield (Eq. 5) is about
emission of the fusion neutron from the moving boiler is Yth = 1.3 9 107(Fig. 2). On the one hand, at the same
anisotropic emission in the laboratory frame. The operational conditions, y is about 18 (Fig. 3) so the neutron
anisotropy factor in the case of a moving boiler in yield of the moving boiler is Yboiler = 2.34 9 108. There-
ambient plasma is [10]: fore, at high pressures the fusion reactions from the



 interactions of moving boiler with ambient plasma have a
1 vD 1 vD
Aboiler ¼ 1þ þ2 1 1þ ð9Þ
y v0 y v0
Where v0 = 2.2 9 107(m/s) is the center of mass
velocity of a neutron from the D–D reaction and vD the
velocity of the boiler. The first term gives the contribution
to the anisotropy from the thermonuclear reactions within
the boiler and the second one stems from the reactions with
the ambient plasma. On the one hand, the pressure driving
the axial drift moving is the same as the pressure driving
the inward radial shock [1]. Therefore, using radial and
axial shock velocity expressed in slug model and Eq. 1,
axial boiler moving speed on the anode surface follows:

12
1 l0 fb U0
Vdrift ¼ p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi ð10Þ
c þ 1 4p2 fr q0 L0 rP2
In the moving boiler model despite further enhancement
of the bank energy, the drift velocity increases as the
anisotropy factor rises.
Fig. 2 Thermal neutron yield as a function of bank energy at 2 torr.
fb = 0.75, fr = 0.005, rB/h = 0.33, a = 0.018

Results and Discussion

In the whole of fulfilled experiments each mechanism

independently plays an important role in neutron emission.
The way the role of mechanism in neutron production is
strongly depends on the working conditions. However, the
thermal mechanism has a major impact on all working
regimes. At low energies and/or pressures regimes the role
of non-thermal mechanism (especially beam-target inter-
action) is dominated by increasing the discharge energy
and/or pressure so the contribution of that mechanism in
the neutron production reduces. At optimum pressures,
each of mechanism has considerable effect on the neutron
yield but at high voltage and/or pressure regimes, results
show that the thermonuclear mechanism has outstanding
role on neutron production.
The different behavior of the plasma particles at the high Fig. 3 y = Yboiler/Yth as function of the bank energy at 2 torr.
pressure is because of the influence of the drift velocity of k = 0.01, fb = 0.75, fr = 0.005, a = 0.018

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J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:235–239
Fig. 4 Anisotropy factor as function of the bank energy at 2 torr.
KT = 1 keV, fb = 0.75, fr = 0.005, a = 0.018
considerable effect on the yield of the neutron emission and
it enhances the total neutron production of the pinched
plasma. Nevertheless, we emphasize that decreasing the
non-thermal emitted neutrons affect the total value of the
neutron yield.
Figure 4 shows the anisotropy factor as a function of
bank energy with parameter k for the plasma temperature
of 1 keV at high pressure and also, in the low pressure with
the experimental data [5]. As we can see, by increasing of
the bank energy at high pressure, the anisotropy factor
increases. This means the fusion reactions in the axially
motion of the moving boiler increases. However, at low
pressures the anisotropy factor decreases as the bank
energy increases. Therefore, at higher pressures for the
analysis of the neutron emission anisotropy we should
consider the fact that the drift motions of deuterons from
pinch leads to a predominant motions of the deuterons,
responsible for the neutron emission toward the axis and
thereby cause anisotropy of the neutron emission by the
thermonuclear mechanism. However, in the low pressures
because of reducing the drift motion we can underestimate
those motions.
Conclusions
In this work, the moving boiler interactions with the
ambiance plasma which are responsible to increase the
239
thermal neutron yield highly are discussed at high pressure
regimes. Also, the different behaviors of the anisotropy
factor as a function of bank energy are investigated in the
different working regimes at low and high pressure dis-
charges of Dena PF, responsible for the different
mechanisms of D–D reactions to produce neutrons. In spite
of increasing the bank energy at low pressure regimes,
decreasing the anisotropy demonstrates that the thermal
reactions dominate. In the high pressure regimes, the
thermal reactions themselves produce the anisotropy
increased by the bank energy. Consequently, in high
pressure and/or energy regimes the main neuron emission
is produced by thermal reactions.
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