An accelerator based fusion-product source for development of inertial confinement fusion nuclear diagnostics

Abstract

A fusion-product source, utilizing a 150 kV Cockraft-Walton linear accelerator, has been refurbished to provide a reliable nuclear diagnostic development tool to the national inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research program. The accelerator is capable of routinely generating DD reaction rates at approximately 10(7)/s when using a 150 kV, 150 microA deuterium (D) beam onto an erbium (Er) or titanium (Ti) target doped with D, and D(3)He reaction rates at approximately 5 x 10(5)/s when using a using a 120 kV, approximately 100 microA D beam onto a Er or Ti target doped with (3)He. The new accelerator is currently being used in a number of projects related to the national ICF program at the OMEGA Laser Fusion Facility [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)], which includes the wedge range filter charged-particle spectrometry program [F. H. Seguin et al., Rev. Sci Instrum. 75, 3520 (2004)] and the magnetic recoil neutron spectrometer [J. A. Frenje et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 72, 854 (2001)].