PPPS-2013: Simulation of a gas puff injection system for a Dense Plasma Focus accelerator

Dense Plasma Focus (DPF) devices designed for the production of neutrons rely upon the rapid discharge of a capacitor bank through deuterium or tritium gas. Developed by J. Mather and N. Filippov in the 1960´s¹, these accelerators rely upon the electrical discharge to produce a current sheath that is rapidly accelerated by Lorentz forces as it travels along the anode of the device. This results in a radial collision of ionized gas at a pinched zone between the end of the anode and the cathode with sufficient velocity to induce fusion. A DPF accelerator can serve as a pulsed source of energetic neutrons with production rates of up to 10¹² neutrons of 2.45 neutrons from D-D interactions or 10¹⁵ neutrons for D-T fusion in each pulse.