Neutron yield and ion production with respect to cathode radius in spherical plasma focus

Abstract

The effect of the cathode radius variation (from 11.5 cm to 17 cm) on neutron yield, discharge current, plasma temperature, and ion properties (velocity, energy, and density) are investigated in this study using the developed spherical plasma focus model and the results are reported in this paper. Peak discharge current and peak beam-ion properties decrease with increasing the cathode radius. Maximum plasma temperature (22.34 eV) and maximum beam-target neutron yield (1.18×1013) are achieved using the cathode with 15 cm radius. The longest pinch duration for all calculations is also achieved using 15 cm cathode radius. It is found that the optimum cathode radius is 15 cm in terms of the neutron yield, plasma temperature and beam-ion properties in spherical plasma focus device.