Design of a repetitively pulsed megajoule dense-plasma focus

Abstract

This report describes a 1 pulse per second, dense-plasma-focus (DPF) materials-testing device capable of delivering a minimum of 10$sup 15$ neutrons per pulse. Moderate scaling up from existing designs is shown to be sufficient to provide 2 x 10$sup 13$ neutrons/ cm$sup 2$. s to a suitable target. The average power consumption, which has become a major issue due to the energy crisis, is analyzed with respect to other plasma devices and is shown to be highly favorable. Also discussed is a novel approach to capacitor-bank and switch design with respect to repetitive-pulse operation. (auth