Automated design of acceleration-tube ion-optic systems for neutron generators

An application program pack for the SM1420 and the IBM PC/AT has been created in order to design the acceleration tubes of neutron generators. It makes it possible to use the method of integral equations to design an axisymmetric electrostatic structure whose electrodes can be composed of six different types of elementary surfaces (cylinder, cone, disk, planar annulus, section of a sphere, or a section of a torus). The results of the calculations using the TUBE program, which calculates the fluence and neutron yield for the specified target parameters and tube operating regimes, were checked experimentally and showed good agreement with practice. The unification of the ESTA pack and the TUBE program has made it possible to construct a complete model of a neutron generator with an acceleration tube of the diode type. In conclusion, the software described can be used to design ion-optic systems for ion linear accelerator injectors