Plasma-erosion-enhanced neutron emission in fiber-generated dense Z-pinches

Summary form only given. Plasma-erosion-enhanced neutron emission in dense z-pinches created from high-current discharges through frozen deuterium fibers has been studied on the basis of the pinch-collapse model in conjunction with a low-density plasma background above the collapsing pinches. Ions are accelerated across the space-charge sheath separating the background plasma from the expanding flares, while electron emission from the flares is strongly insulated by the z-discharge magnetic field. The sheath gap increases in time, i.e. the background plasma erodes, at a rate determined by its density and the SCL (space-charge-limited) ion current density, which, in turn, depends on the z-discharge dynamics and the associated induced electromagnetic fields. A model incorporating the above processes was used to determine the accelerated ion energy spectrum and associated neutron yield as functions of the discharge, instability, and background parameters. Preliminary results indicate that neutron yields close to experimental values result when sufficiently high values of background density are chosen