Investigation of the relationship between neutron and X-ray emission from a plasma focus

This paper presents a study on the relationship between some neutron characteristics (anisotropy, yield) and the soft X-ray emission at different pressures of deuterium using a 3 kJ at 15 kV Mather-type plasma focus device. The experimental data show that at pressures below the neutron-optimized value of 4 mbar, both the anisotropy and the neutron yield have lower values, but the soft X-ray production is higher. Towards the optimum pressure, anisotropy increases with the neutron yield and both have their maximum values at the optimum pressure. The corresponding soft X-ray production decreases and has the minimum value at the neutron-optimized pressure. Beyond the optimum pressure, both the anisotropy and the neutron yield decrease, and the soft X-ray production is enhanced. The correlation of the neutron anisotropy with the total neutron yield and the soft X-ray production shows a common trend regardless of the pressure: the higher the total neutron yield, the greater the neutron anisotropy and the lower the soft X-ray production. All these data indicate that in this plasma focus device the beam-target mechanism is responsible for the neutron emission. (authors)