J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313
DOI 10.1007/s10894-009-9192-3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Study the Influence of the Bank Energy on the Dynamical Pinch
in Plasma Focus
Ahmad Talaei Æ S. M. Sadat Kiai
Published online: 20 February 2009
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract The plasma focus discharge can generate,
accelerate and pinch the plasma up to high density and
temperature in a pulsed mode manner. Applications aspects
of discharge require high efficiency of the fusion products.
This situation acquires optimized operational parameters
for the proper discharge. In this article, we have studied the
plasma parameters and neutron performance dependency
on bank energy. First, analytical expressions are derived
from the equation of motion for the plasma particles in the
radial phase. Then, the related fusion neutrons, both ther-
mal and non-thermal, together with the discharge
anisotropy in the low pressure regimes for the ‘Dena’
plasma focus device as function of bank energy are pre-
sented. The analytic models are compared with
experimental data.
Keywords Plasma focus devices
Thermonuclear
mechanism
Non-thermal mechanism
Anisotropy factor
Introduction
The plasma focus (PF) discharge is a plasma machine that
produces ionizing radiation, fast electron, soft and hard
X-rays, fast ions (up to 15 MeV) and neutrons (up to
3 MeV, when the filling gas is deuterium) [1]. The PF
A. Talaei
Amirkabir University of Technology, P.O. Box 15875-4413,
Tehran, Iran
e-mail: ahmad.talaei@gmail.com
S. M. Sadat Kiai (&)
Nuclear Science & Technology Research Institute (NSTR),
Nuclear Science Research, A.E.O.I, 14155-1339 Tehran, Iran
e-mail: sadatkiai@yahoo.com
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device was independently developed in the early 1960s by
Mather [2] and by Filippov [3] in two configurations which
mainly differ in the macroscopic direction of the motion of
the accelerated plasma (axial and radial, respectively). It
consists of mainly three main parts: energy storage system,
high voltage high current switch, and a discharge chamber.
Dena is a Filippov-type PF shown in Fig. 1. It has the
energy source with total capacitance of 288 lF, and
inductance of the bank 1.7 nH: these values are provided
by 24 capacitors in parallel, each of them has 12 lF and
40 nH capacitance and inductance, respectively. The
maximum operating voltage is 25 kV (90 kJ) which deliver
a peak discharge current of about 2.8 MA into a short
circuit with a rise time of 4 ls. The experiments with Dena
PF discharge are normally at low pressures, approximately
less than 1 torr.
Dena has an anode in the center, a disc of 48 cm in
diameter and a length of 15.5 cm. The aluminum cathode is
65 cm in diameter. The anode is made of copper and at its
center a conic insert anode made of copper tungsten alloy
can easily be replaced. The discharge current signal and its
derivative are measured by Rogowski coil and magnetic
probe. PIN diode (SPPD II-02 type) filtered with a 10 lm
thick beryllium window, measures the time-resolved soft
X-ray (SXR) signal. The time-resolved and time-integrated
hard X-ray (HXR) intensities measurements are registered
using NaI and NE-102 plastic scintillators coupled to photo
element coaxial and photomultiplier, respectively.
In its best known ‘Mather’ version, as soon as the Spark-
Gap is triggered closing the circuit, a discharge develops.
Once the ionization energy of the background gas is
reached, multiple ionization avalanches make the charged
particles grow exponentially as predicted by the Townsend
law for the electrical gas breakdown (breakdown phase).
The ionized gas develops suddenly in a plasma sheath from
J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram showing the Dena plasma focus electrodes
and diagnostics. 1. Upper flange of the vacuum chamber, 2. capacitor
bank, 3. porcelain insulator, 4. anode, 5. ring-like spark gap switch, 6.
collector plate, 7. insulation, 8. matching induction, 9. liner, 10.
Rogowski coil, 11. magnetic probe, 12. pinhole camera, 13. SXR
detector (SPPD-Type), 14. detector-monitor, 15. HXR detector
(plastic scintillator detector), 16. detector of integral neutron, 17.
plasma-current sheath, 18. conic insert anode
the insulator sleeve to the cathode (inverse pinch phase).
The current density flowing through the electrodes and the
plasma produce a current loop. The magnetic field is
confined between the electrodes and the axial-symmetric
current sheet (CS), consequently, the magnetic pressure
acts as a sort of magnetic piston (MP) and pushes the
sheath. When the CS is formed and carries the circuit
current, the plasma detaches from the insulator and grows
in dimensions. Its profile develops in a parabolic shape due
to the dependence of the magnetic pressure from the radial
position. The sheath is then pushed towards the open end of
the electrodes (rundown phase). The sheath sweeps the
background neutral gas it meets and grows in density, but
also looses part of the plasma in the region where its tail
connects to the cathode. As the open end of the electrodes
is reached, the sheath is driven to collapse towards the
symmetry axis (collapse phase). The CS frequently devi-
ates from the total discharge current. The deviation is
mainly due to the current flowing along the front of the
shock wave (SW) and residual current flowing behind the
CS. However, the main part of current is carried by skin-
layer current [4]. When the axial-symmetric shock-front
reaches the symmetry axis, the plasma is radially com-
pressed in a hot and dense focus (pinch phase), in which
fusion reactions occur. The pinch has duration of a few tens
up to hundreds nanoseconds (ns) and coincides temporally
with a sudden sharp drop in the total current signal caused
by a decrease in plasma conductivity due to strong con-
finement. While for the Filippov-type configuration,
plasma accelerates to the chamber’s z-axis radially along
the anode surface immediately after the second phase.
After a few tens up to hundreds ns, pinch is disturbed by
the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (current abruption). These
305
instabilities substitute the thermal collisional current within
the pinch by the collision less stream of fast electrons
having the energy of the several hundreds keV. The fast
electrons beam generated can be investigated by registering
of HXR radiation produced by them on the anode surface.
The concept of the fast particle generation mechanism in
DPF is developed on the base of electron magnetohydro-
dynamics theory and the model of a plasma diode (disc-
like) which appears due to anomalous resistivity in the
pinch and constituting the current abruption phenomenon.
Within this diode first, fast electrons are accelerated toward
the anode and then, they are magnetized and substituted by
fast ions [5].
A double neutron pulses structure is registered about
10 m far from the Dena PF device and depicted in Fig. 2.
The measurement is made by stopping the signal of the
HXR emission by the Pb, Cu, and Al filters. The first
neutron pulse appears about 460 ns far from the reference
time (the peak of HXR pulse), and last about 60–70 ns then
followed by the second neutron pulse approximately at
720 ns far from HXR pulse, and last about 170–190 ns.
The exponential decay of the neutron signal (tail in the
signal) is due to neutrons scattering by the walls sur-
rounding the lab. Also, the multi-peak structure of the
second neutron pulse is due to few minor disruptions after
the major disruption that occurs in the current negative
spike. The time of appearances of the signals indicated here
are considered without taking into accounts the delay time
caused by transmission line (each meter of transmission
line produce a delay of approximately 5 ns). Therefore, the
real time of the appearance of the first pulse must be at
about 510 ns.
Fig. 2 Structure of double neutron pulses obtained by time-of-flight
measurements. Each division is 400 ns. The experimental conditions
are 0.65 torr deuterium filling gas and 16 kV with conic insert anode
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306
The characteristic confinement time of the pinch lasts
about a few tens up to hundreds ns. This time interval
coincides with SXR pulses and the duration of the first
neutron pulse. The average energy of 2.45 MeV of neutron
pulse in the radial direction is calculated using the neutron
time-of-flight (TOF) peak to peak method of analysis.
Therefore, the majority of the neutrons in the first pulse are
produced due to the thermal ion–ion interactions in the
pinched plasma [6, 7]. The large pinch-life-time indicates
temporary stabilization of the pinch column. It can be
explained by the magnetic field effects (produced due to the
current abruption) and a dynamic nature of the pinch. After
this period the plasma column is disturbed by instabilities
and plasma diode inrush into the magnetic field and strong
luminescence of filament is observed in some medium and
big PFs. After about several tens nanoseconds, the bright
region of the column starts to move the upper part of anode
surface. At this stage the main pulse of the HXR and the
second pulse of the neutron emission start [6–5]. In our
experimental conditions of 0.65 torr and 16 kV, this neu-
tron pulse is larger than first one (Fig. 2), indicating that the
majority of the neutrons in these conditions are produced at
and after the instant of the development of the m = 0
instability. The interaction of the ion–ion stream (with the
medium energy of particles in the range of 20–150 keV)
which is captured and gyrated by a magnetic field of the
pinch (after the current abruption) and head-on-ion with the
pinched plasma (target) results in second pulse of neutron
emission [8]. The ion beam interaction with targets char-
acter’s of PF, is used in different applications such as
production of the radioisotopes [9].
In order to maximize the energy accumulation in the
pinch plasma column for higher fusion efficiency one has
to fulfill the necessary requirements for the proper dis-
charge initiations. If the design parameters are already
correctly chosen then these are the discharge operational
parameters which must be optimized. A proper discharge
initiation makes a good starting of the CS which is a vital
important for a higher fusion efficiency.
From the literature there are many research works related
to the influence of the operational parameters such as energy
of capacitor bank, filling gas pressure, gas admixtures, etc.,
on the behaviour of discharge output yield [2, 10–18]. As
about 40 years of tests on PF devices of different power
operated in deuterium show the existence of proportionality
laws relating the neutron yield Yn to the bank energy U0 or to
the total current Itot. The first scaling law is Yn ¼ 106 
U01:52:5 with U0 measured in kJ, appears to be approxi-
mately followed over the whole range of energy on which
data are available [2, 17]. Also, the total current appears to
be the real important parameters that could affect the total
34
neutron yield. A typically accepted rule is Yn ¼ 10  Itot
5
and sometimes Yn  Itot [2, 18]. However, later on the
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J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313
investigations carried out with the biggest devices revealed
that a certain limit exists for bank energy and after that
neutron yield decreases in spite of a further increase in U0.
Therefore, the scaling laws were not fulfilled [16]. In this
article, special attention is paid to the pinched plasma
dynamic which is investigated with a simple theoretical
model in relation to pinch radiation (especially neutron)
characteristic as a function of bank energy. First, the influ-
ence of the bank energy on the pinched plasma column
component such as density, pressure, and temperature are
investigated. Then, the characteristics of thermal (in the
Bennett equilibrium) and non-thermal neutron emissions
together with corresponding neutron anisotropy are studied.
The anisotropy in the neutron emission of Dena PF is pre-
sented in the low filling pressures regimes.
Theoretical Model
Mass of Current Sheath in the Transit Times
In its best known ‘Mather’ version, after the breakdown
and inverse pinch phases, the current flows radially out-
ward from the inner electrode (IE) to the outer electrode
(OE) in radially symmetric sheath and !
slightly
!
canted in the
forward direction (z). In this case, J  B force on the CS
drives axially the tube and the CS sweeps up the gas. The
CS mass in the axial direction is equal to fa q0 pðb2  a2 Þz
where fa is the axial sweeping efficiency, a, b are the anode
and cathode radii, and q0 is the initial gas density: q0 ¼
mi P0 =KT0 where mi is deuterium mass, P0 the initial filling
pressure and KT0 is the initial gas temperature. The rate of
change of the CS momentum is due to the magnetic pres-
sure ðB2 =2l0 Þ with the magnetic field force ðl0 I 2 =4pÞ
logðb=aÞ: When the CS reaches the end of the IE, it will
slide across the face of the IE in the radial direction. In this
case, the collected mass per unit length of CS is equal to
mðr Þ ¼ mi fr P0 pða2  r 2 Þ=KT0 where r is the radius of CS
and fr the radial sweeping efficiency. We may develop the
radial phase with combining the MP with the motion of the
SW driven by the piston (slug model). Hence, we can
consider a strong SW which is introduced into the integral
gas due to the motion of the CS.
The pinch has duration of a few tens up to hundreds ns
and coincides temporally with a sudden sharp drop in the
current signal caused by a decrease in plasma conductivity
due to strong confinement. Although only charge of the
order of a Coulomb involved they are released in micro-
second times so that peak currents flowing through the
plasma can be of the order of Mega Ampere. As first
approximation, the electrical behavior of the device can be
easily understood by studying its equivalent lumped circuit.
Neglecting the problems of impedance mismatch,
J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313
transmission lines delay and not-ideal switch conditions, the
external circuit consists in a capacitor bank C0 charged at a
voltage V0 connected to the device with the plasma induc-
tance Lp and its resistance Rp that vary in time during the
sheath dynamics. The total inductance Ltot is intended as the
sum of the external circuit Lext and plasma inductance:
Ltot ðtÞ ¼ Lext þ Lp ðtÞ ð1Þ
Simply applying the formula to calculate the inductance
between two coaxial cylinders of length, the inductance of
the plasma can be written as:


l0 b
Lp ðtÞ ¼ zðtÞ ln ð2Þ
2p r ðt Þ
where z(t) is intended to represent the axial position of the
CS along the electrodes, b the radius of the OE and r(t)
equal to the IE radius during the rundown phase and the
radius of the pinch which is included into the electrical
circuit during the CS traveling radially to its implosion
while for the Filippov-type PF, z is the pinch length. During
the first stage of the discharge (breakdown), the current
grows rapidly but the inductance is mainly due to the
external circuit term (constant and of the order of 27 nH in
our case) [19]. It is quite intuitive that the variable
inductance of the equivalent RLC circuit grows during the
sheath motion (Eq. 2, during the rundown phase plasma
inductance increases linearly with z(t) whereas at the
implosion stage its enlargement proceeds much slower
following a logarithmic relationship with radius r(t)) since
the space filled by the magnetic field increases with its axial
(Mather-type) and radial (Fillipov-type) positions.
Referring to the maximum current of the equivalent RLC
circuit and under the hypothesis of negligible external
resistance, one obtains:
V0
Imax  qffiffiffiffiffi ð3Þ
Ltot
C0
Therefore, a first estimation of the maximum total
inductance can be immediately founds as:
2f U0
Ltot ¼ 2b ð4Þ
Imax
where fb is the coefficient of the initial energy stored in the
capacitor bank U0 which will be transferred to the pinched
plasmaðnb ¼ 0:5  1Þ: Obviously, lower is the inductance,
greater is the obtainable peak current for fixed bank energy.
The maximal plasma compression precedes the current dip
by about 100 ns and takes place about 2 ls after the current
maximum. Therefore, we take into account a current
decrease to the moment of maximal plasma compression
and suppose only 70–75% of maximum current flows
through the pinch current.
307
The external inductance of the Dena PF is summarized
as sum of the inductances of the capacitor bank, cables, and
Spark-Gap of the order of 27 nH. With a peak current of
1.2 MA in the conditions of 37 kJ and 0.35 torr the total
inductance rapidly grows up from 27 nH to about 39 nH
from the first phase to plasma compression. One of the
important design parameter is the good  matching  between
the external and plasma inductance Lext ¼ Lp related to
the power transmission between the two components.
The collected mass per unit length in the plasma pinch is
equal to mP ¼ fr q0 p a2  rP2 : Therefore, the correspond-
ing equation for the plasma mass density at the pinch time
is:

2 !
a
qP ¼ fr q0 1 ð5Þ
rP
A comparison between numerical computations of the
endpoint fixed by an energy-balance method with the
experimental laser-shadowgraphy images of pinched
plasma is done. The result for the optimum deuterium
filling pressure in the various PF devices indicates that the
final pinch plasma radius is a function of anode radius:
rP ¼ aa : Here, the value of a is 0.12 and 0.018 for the
Mather-type and Dena PFs, respectively [7, 20, 21].
At the pinch time, pinch pressure is equal to B2P =2l0 :
Therefore, by using Eq. 4, we have the relationship
between the pinch pressure and bank energy as:


l0 fb U0
PP ¼ 0:98 ð6Þ
8p2 Ltot rP2
Using Eq. 6 and PP ¼ 2nðrp ÞKTP ; the corresponding
expression for the pinch temperature becomes:



C fb U0
KTP ¼ 0:98 ; ðkeVÞ ð7Þ
1:6  1016 Ltot
where C ¼ 16p2 flP0 KTa02 r2 is a function of PF initial
r 0ð PÞ
conditions.
Neutron Production
The high energy density pinches generate considerable
amount of radiation, including radio waves, X-rays, gamma
rays, and neutrons when the filling gas is deuterium. In a
conventional PF device the neutrons are produced by the
thermal (maximum compression) and non-thermal mecha-
nisms. The thermal mechanism is developed at the plasma
thermal equilibrium by the interaction between deuterons
in the pinched plasma focus. The non-thermal mechanism
for the fusion reactions is characterized by the interaction
of the ion—ion stream which is captured and gyrated by a
magnetic field of the pinch and head-on ion—with the
pinched plasma (target) after Raleigh-Taylor instability.
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308 J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313

Thermonuclear Neutron Yield as a Function the design parameters of the PF devices. For the maximum
of the Energy neutrons yield we have used a simplified form of Eq. 13 as:



19=6
The neutron yield proceeding thermonuclear reactions h fb U 0 2 CðP0 Þfb U0
Yth ¼
during a cylindrical pinched plasma time (when the Lor- rP Ltot 1:6  1019 Ltot
entz force competes with the kinetic pressure from the gas
1=3 ! ð14Þ
4 Ltot
and density, and temperature are sufficiently high) is:  exp 1:0986  10

2 CðP0 Þfb U0
nP
Yth ¼ hrviP prP2 hs ð8Þ Equation 14 indicates that the increase of the pinch
2
temperature does not necessarily correspond to an increase
where n is the deuteron’s density ðm3 Þ; hrvi the thermal in the neutron yield. In fact, there is a critical pinch
collision rat ðm3 =sÞ; rP the pinch radius, h the pinch length, temperature that produces the maximum neutron yield. In
and s the pinch duration. The subscript P in Eq. 8 refers to other words,
 Eq. 14 is a function of the temperature like
the pinch. For obtaining s, we have to calculate the motion j19=6 exp j1=3 : Therefore, the maximum neutron
equation in the radial phase. The motion equation for yield occurs at j = 0.0012 that the function

particles along adiabatic plasma is: j19=6 exp j1=3 has the maximum value about



d dr l I2 2P0 a2c 1.45 9 105. So the maximum neutron yield becomes:
n mi ¼  02 3 þ 2cþ1 ð9Þ


dt dt 4p r r h fb U0 2
Ythmax ¼ 1:89  1017 ð15Þ
And we assume N ¼ ðpr 2 hÞn where N is the number of rP Ltot
deuterons. With the linearization of Eq. 9 around the pinch
which shows the relationship Ythmax / U02 : The non-
radius we have:
thermal neutron (up to 3 MeV) production is generally
d2 r l0 hIP2 assigned to the non-thermal mechanism. This interaction of
 ðr  rP Þ ¼ 0 ð10Þ
dt2 4prP2 mi NP the ion—ion stream which is captured and gyrated by a
magnetic field of the pinch and head-on ion—with the
By solving Eq. 10, the characteristic pinch duration can pinched plasma (target) results in second pulse of neutron
be found as: emission [8]. The SXR (electron Bremsstrahlung in the
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
rP 4pmi NP thermal plasma) and the HXR (belong to non-thermal,
s¼ ð11Þ interaction of electron beam with the anode surface) are the
IP l0 h
signatures of thermal and non-thermal mechanisms.
For the Maxwellian ion distribution the rate coefficient At low pressure and/or low discharge energies (less than
for the thermal reaction may be evaluated by integration of 1 torr and 20 kJ for Dena PF) the mechanism of the
the cross section over the velocity distribution. Therefore, interaction of the ion—ion stream (with the medium energy
the collision rate for the plasma with the temperature of particles in the range of 20–150 keV) which is captured
T C 1 keV is given by [22]: and gyrated by a magnetic field of the pinch (after the
! current abruption) and head-on ion—with the pinched
3:5  1020 20:1 plasma (target) play an important role in neutron produc-
hrvith ¼ 2=3
exp  1=3 ð12Þ
TD TD tion. This behavior may be explained by the acceleration of
the deuterons due to the lower electron and gas densities in
where TD is the deuterons temperature expressed in keV. By
the plasma and in the surroundings volume. Therefore, in
replacing Eqs. 11 and 12 with the pinch temperature the cool plasma of the pinch the generation of the neutrons
condition into the Eq. 8, and the use of Eqs. 4 and 7 (The by non-thermal reactions is more than thermal one. The
expression of the pinch temperature in Eq. 7 is the same
neutron yield proceeding non-thermonuclear reactions
with the Bennett temperature KTB ¼ ðl0 h=16pÞIP2 =NP ) then during the second pulse is:
we can calculate the total thermal neutrons yield as follows: Z


19=6
 Ynonth ¼ nifast niplas: hrvifast iVdt ð16Þ
h CðP0 Þ Ltot 7=6
Yth ¼ snonth
rP 1:6  1019 fb U0

1=3 ! ð13Þ
4 Ltot where nifast is the density of fast deuterons with the energy
 exp 1:0986  10 range of 20 keV\Ed \150 keV; niplas: the density of
CðP0 Þfb U0
pinched deuterons in plasma with the thermal energy
The thermal neutron yield in Eq. 13 is described in range, r the cross section of fusion reaction of deuterons,
terms of initial operational parameters U0, P0, KT0, Ltot and vifast the velocity of the fast ions, V the volume of the pinch,

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J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313 309

and snon-th the time of non-thermal reactions. We can
1=2

4 2e u3=2
simplify the last equation as: ii ¼ e0 C0  qffiffiffiffi ð23Þ
9 mi
1 þ mmei d 2
Ynonth ¼ Nifast niplas: hrvifast isnonth ð17Þ
where Nifast is the number of fast deuterons. The cross where u is the inducted voltage into the plasma column
section of the fusion reaction D þ D ! 3 He þ n with the ðu ¼ Imax dLP =dtÞ; and C0 constant and equal to 1.867. As
energy of deuterons more than 20 keV, using Gamov we explained it before (Eq. 2):
parameters we have [23]: 

 

 dLP l0 b z
288 45:8 ¼ ln Va þ Vr ð24Þ
rð E d Þ ¼ exp  pffiffiffiffiffi ð18Þ dt 2p rP rP
Ed Ed
where Va is the speed of CS in rundown phase, Vr in the
where Ed is in order of keV, and r(Ed) in barn. From the radial compression phase, and z the length of pinch. Using
literature we may evaluate the energy dependent spectrum the slug model, the speed of CS in the radial compres-
1=2
of high-energy deuterons as is described by [24, 25]: sion phase
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi is equal to Vr ¼ ðl0 ðc þ 1Þ=16p2 Þ ðfb Imax =
dN a fr q0 Þ: As we see, Vr is proportional to the driving
 Edm 2  m  3 ð19Þ parameter which is constant for the wide range of devices
dE
[25, 27]. Therefore, for the number of fast ions, we have:
We normalize the function of energy dependent

1=2  3=2
spectrum distribution of deuterons as: 4 2 Imax dLdtP
Nifast ¼ e0 C 0  qffiffiffiffi snonth ð25Þ
ZEmax 9 mi e
1m 1 þ mmei d 2
ð1mÞ ð1mÞ
Edm dE ¼ 1 ð20Þ
Emax  Emin
Emin We can evaluate the bank energy dependence of the
non-thermal neutron yield using Eqs. 21 and 25 as:
where Emax and Emin are the lowest and highest energy
ranges of fast ions ð20 keV\Ed \150 keVÞ: Therefore, for 3=2
Ynonth / Imax niplas: s2nonth ð26Þ
the non-thermal neutron yield, we have:
3=4
which shows the relationship Ynonth / U0 :
Ynonth
1
¼ Nifast niplas: snonth Anisotropy Factor in Neutron Emission as a Function
3:5  2
rffiffiffiffiffi Zm¼3 ZEmax of Energy
2 1m ð21Þ
 ð1mÞ ð1mÞ
mi Emax  Emin A large number of measurements show that the neutron
 m¼2
E min  and electromagnetic radiation emission spectra from
288 45:8 mþ1=2
 exp  pffiffiffiffiffi Ed dmdE plasma focus devices are characterized by a marked
Ed Ed
anisotropy. The value of the neutron emission anisotropy
For the accelerated ions by the strong potential, we factor A ¼ Un ð0 Þ=Un ð90 Þ; in which Un ð0 Þ and
have: Un ð90 Þ are the neutron fluxes in the axial and radial

 directions with respect to the anode axis is about 2 for
  ji
Nifast ¼ prP2 snonth ð22Þ the operational conditions of the Dena PF [28]. There are
e essentially two causes of the neutron anisotropy. The
where ji is the current density of fast ions. As it is mentioned first is the velocity of mass-center of colliding deuterons
that the concept of the fast particle generation mechanism in is preferentially in the electrodes’ axial direction and
DPF is developed on the base of the model of a plasma causes the anisotropy in the laboratory system. The other
diode (disc-like) which appears due to anomalous resistivity reason for anisotropy occurs because of the differential
in the pinch and constituting the current abruption cross section in the mass-center system for the nuclear
phenomenon. Within this diode first, fast electrons are fusion reaction D þ D ! 3 He þ n [29]. We investigate
accelerated toward the anode and then, they are magnetized the anisotropy on the basis of time-integrated methods of
and substituted by fast ions. According to the Child- the neutron pulses measured by NE-102 plastic scintil-
Langmuir formula for the current of limited ions in space- lators coupled to PM-53 photomultiplier detectors placed
charge in a plasma diode with width d (length of pinch) and at the equal distance and different angels to the electrode
the assumption of double-layer effects, we have [26]: axis.

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310
Anisotropy at the Low Pressures
There are spatial and energy anisotropies in the neutron
emission. The anisotropy of the neutron emission in a
Z-pinch device is evidence of some preferred direction for
the motion of the deuterons which are responsible for the
neutron emission. In a thermal mechanism for a neutron
production we would expect to find no preferred neutron
emission direction. In a detailed analysis of the neutron
production mechanisms in Z-pinches, it is noted that the
anisotropy of the neutron emission is the basic experi-
mental fact which is inconsistent with the thermonuclear
hypothesis regarded neutron emission [30]. Accordingly,
the existence of anisotropy in the neutron emission is
interpreted as evidence in favor of the non-thermal mech-
anism. That is realized that at lower energies (U0 B 20 kJ
for our device), the non-thermal reactions play an impor-
tant role in neutron generation but by increasing the bank
energy the thermal reactions dominate [24]. At low pres-
sures, P0 B 1 torr for Dena PF, the experiments show that
the anisotropy factor increases when the bank energy
decreases and vice versa [28]. In this case, the plasma
column is highly unstable due to MHD instabilities and the
neutron emission is found to be low with the highest
influence of anisotropy. Constant drive parameter for Dena
PF is about 77 (kA/(cm torr1/2)) [25]. Thus, the speed of
CS in the radial compression phase is to be about 18 (cm/
microsecond). Therefore, by using Eqs. 15 and 21 in the
above conditions for Dena PF, the value of anisotropy
factor as a function of energy becomes:
r 
f U 5=4 in the 37 kJ of the bank energy is investigated for Dena PF
6 2 P b 0
A ¼ 1 þ 1:5  10 niplas: snonth ð27Þ
h Ltot
We emphasize that the later equation is in the optimum-
neutron yield conditions for Dena PF. One can see that at
low pressures the anisotropy factor decreases by increasing
the bank energy and then saturates.
Results and Discussion
The experiments were carried out at the Dena PF facility in
the operational regime with a deuterium pressure range
0.35–1.5 torr and with a discharge energy level up to 47 kJ.
In these initial conditions, the discharge current was
1–1.3 MA and the neutron emissions were of the order of
ð0:1  5Þ  108 n/shot: Plasma temperature estimations
related to compression phase give us value in the range
1–1.5 keV and the plasma density was of the order of
ð0:1  5Þ  1023 m3 : Also, there are some experimental
and computational results that show the value of the used
coefficients such as fb, fr and rB/h are 0.75, 0.005 and 0.33
as adequate values for Dena PF, respectively [31].
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J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313
When we surveyed the thermal neutron yield as a
function of energy, we observed a neutron yield peak at
about 3 9 1011 for the each initial filling pressure in the
higher bank energies (U0 C 300 kJ PF devices). So that,
after passing the corresponding energy the total neutron
yield decreases by the increasing of the bank energy. In
other words, there is an optimum charging voltage for each
filling pressure in the high energy PF devices. The exper-
imental results achieved by Scholz et al. [11] indicate this
fact. By plotting Eq. 13 as a function of filling gas pressure
we can obtain the optimum pressure which gives the
maximum neutron yield (Fig. 3). Experimental results
show that by increasing the pressure the total neutron yield
increases and reaches to an optimum value. After that the
total neutron yield decreases by increasing the filling
pressure [28]. Moreover, we have a certain optimum
pressure for each initial bank energy. As we see in Fig. 4,
at a constant value of the filling pressure the neutron yield
increases by increasing the bank energy (Eq. 13). This
might be due to the increase in the plasma temperature and
CS speed.
The total neutron yield Ytot: the number of the neutrons
produced during a single shut and emitted neutron in var-
ious directions was measured by NE-102 plastic
scintillators detectors placed at equal distance and different
angels around the Dena PF, is produced by thermal and
non-thermal mechanisms. Therefore, we may sum up
Eqs. 13 and 21 for obtaining the total neutron yield. In this
case, we can compare the theoretical data with the exper-
iment. The pressure dependence of the total neutron yield
and depicted in Fig. 5. For a given bank energy by
Fig. 3 Thermal neutron yield as a function of filling deuterium
pressure and parameter is bank energy. fb = 0.75, fr = 0.005,
rB/h = 0.33, a = 0.018
J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313
Fig. 4 Thermal neutron yield as a function of bank energy and
parameter is filling deuterium pressure. fb = 0.75, fr = 0.005,
rB/h = 0.33, a = 0.018
increment in the initial deuterium pressure, the neutron
yield increases and after a certain maximum (related to the
optimum pressure) it decreases in spite of a further
increases in the pressure. Figure 6 shows a comparison of
the total neutron yield as a function of the bank energy with
those of the experimental results obtained for Dena PF for
the pressure of 0.84 torr. In fact, for each initial filling
pressure value the neutron yield increases as a function of
the charging voltage. A fairly good agreement between
experimental results and our calculations has confirmed the
reliability of the model.
Fig. 5 Total neutron yield as a function of filling deuterium pressure
with the 37 kJ bank energy. Also the experimental points are shown
by the stars marker. fb = 0.75, fr = 0.005, rB/h = 0.33, a = 0.018,
niplas: ¼ 8  1016 cm3 , snon-th = 60 ns
311
Fig. 6 Total neutron yield with the various bank energy for the
0.84 torr filling deuterium pressure. Also the experimental points are
shown by the stars marker fb = 0.75, fr = 0.005, rB/h = 0.33,
a = 0.018, niplas: ¼ 8  1016 cm3 , snon-th = 60 ns
A comparison between Eqs. 15 and 21 shows that the
thermal neutron yield depends more strongly on the
energy rather than non-thermal one. As we see from
Fig. 7, there is a certain amount of energy (for the
operational conditions) above which the neutron emission
is dominate by thermonuclear mechanisms. In fact, when
the bank energy rises the CS takes the higher speed
values. Thus, the minority of the plasma particles can
escape axially from the radial compression (although they
have high value of drift velocity). Therefore, the majority
Fig. 7 Maximum-thermal and beam-target neutron yield as a func-
tion of bank energy for optimum filling deuterium pressure. There is a
critical value of the bank energy as after corresponding energy, the
thermal neutron yield dominates. fb = 0.75, rB/h = 0.33,
niplas: ¼ 8  1016 cm3 , snon-th = 60 ns
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Fig. 8 Anisotropy factor as a function of the bank energy for the
0.84 torr initial filling pressure. Also the experimental points are
shown by the stars marker. fb = 0.75, rB/h = 0.33,
niplas: ¼ 8  1016 cm3 , snon-th = 60 ns
of the neurons are produced by the thermal reactions in
pinch phase.
The energy dependence of anisotropy factor at low
pressures regimes will be considered next. At low pressures
the anisotropy factor decreases as the bank energy increa-
ses. This has been shown experimentally in ref. [28]. This
effect indicates that by increasing the bank energy the
contribution of the non-thermal mechanism is much more
reduced than that of thermal mechanism in the total neu-
tron production. The anisotropy factor as a function of the
energy which is compared to the experimental data is
depicted in Fig. 8. We considered the pinched plasma
density in the order of niplas: ¼ 8  1016 cm3 and the non-
thermal duration snonth ¼ 60 ns for our calculation in
Eq. 27. As one can see, calculation model can predict the
behavior of the anisotropy factor with a good agreement.
Literature show that these two mechanisms of the neu-
tron emission have a spatial anisotropies [32] whereas at
higher pressures for the analysis of the neutron emission
anisotropy we should consider the fact that the drift
motions of deuterons from pinch leads to a predominant
motions of the deuterons, responsible for the neutron
emission toward the axis and thereby cause anisotropy of
the neutron emission by the thermonuclear mechanism.
However, in the lower pressure because of reducing the
drift motion, we can underestimate those motions.
Conclusions
The main purpose of this work was to establish a simple
model for the plasma behavior of the PF discharges in
order to determine the energy dependence of a wide range
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J Fusion Energ (2009) 28:304–313
of parameters. The analytical expressions derived here
based on empirical plasma models, allowing the analyzing
and optimization of different aspects of discharge param-
eters. The electrodes dimensions or operational pressure,
all in relationship with the characteristics energy source for
the maximum current sheath can be studied.
A careful examination of the total neutron emissions
reveals that the thermal neutron yield depends more strongly
on the bank energy than the non-thermal one. This situation
can be verified by anisotropy measurement. Our calculations
demonstrated the saturation of the neutron yield for each
initial filling pressure in the higher bank energy.
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