ION-BEAM AND NEUTRON-PRODUCTION IN A LOW-ENERGY PLASMA-FOCUS

Experimental results related to deuteron-beam production and its corre lation with the neutron yield and hard x-ray production in a low-energ y plasma focus device (30 kV, 5 kJ) are presented. After performing co rrections in the ion energy spectrum (within an ion energy range from 50 keV to 1.5 MeV) for elastic and inelastic interactions of the ions with the background gas, it is found that the ion density at low ion e nergy is very high and plays an important role in the neutron producti on of this plasma focus device.