Stimulated acceleration and confinement of deuterons in focused discharges. II

For pt.I see ibid., vol.16, no.3, p.368-73, June 1988. Methods of increasing, by a factor greater than five, the neutron yield/short Y _n from D-D fusion reactions in a plasma focus (PF) enhance both the D⁺-ion acceleration to energy values E _d>1-8 MeV and the ion confinement in the pinch region. Nuclear activation of C and N in the (doped) filling gas of the discharge chamber and of solid targets of C and BN bombarded by the ion beam in the direction of the electrode axis (0°) confirms earlier determination of the energy spectrum of the trapped ions (dφ_t/dE∝φ_0tE ^-m) and of the ejected beam (dφ_b/dE∝φ_0bE _d^-m, m=2.5±0.5 for 0.1 MeV≲E≲3 MeV). A Thomson (parabola) spectrometer with nanosecond time resolution determines the time of emission t( E) of the beam at 0°. Ion acceleration and trapping occur within the small (filamentary) elements of the magnetic fine structure of the pinch, which can be dispersed on a relatively large confinement volume after the pinch disintegration. It has been found that φ_t/φ_b≳10-10³ for E_d≳1 MeV, depending on Y_n