STUDY ON AN INERTIAL ELECTROSTATIC CONFINEMENT FUSION AS A PORTABLE NEUTRON SOURCE

The scaling of neutron generation versus ion current is important in e valuating the prospect of an inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) as a neutron source. In this paper, the scaling of neutron generation versus ion current, I, based on the results of both the experiments an d the numerical simulations is discussed. The experiments shows the sc aling of I-2, while the numerical simulation gives the stronger scalin g of I-3. The regime of current in the present experiments is limited by the capability of the available power supplies. As the current incr eases, the potential structure is numerically shown to be more unstabl e. The intermittent peaking of the density is accompanied with unstabl e potential behaviors and brings about the higher density in time aver aging. This may be a reason why the numerical simulation gives a stron ger scaling versus ion current. Experiments in higher ion current regi me may be required to verify the scaling estimated by the numerical si mulation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.