Production of Thermonuclear Neutrons from Deuterium-Filled Capsule Implosions Driven by<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi></mml:math>-Pinch Dynamic Hohlraums

Abstract

Evidence for the first production of thermonuclear neutrons by $Z$-pinch dynamic hohlraum driven deuterium-filled capsules is presented. The average neutron energy and yield isotropy measured is consistent with thermonuclear fusion production. The addition of Xe gas to certain capsules suppressed the fusion neutron yields by an order of magnitude, consistent with a thermonuclear production process. The ion temperature deduced from the neutron energy distribution was $4.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{k}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$ and typical yields were $1--5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{10}$.