Download or read book Plasma Focus Experiments Powered by Explosive Generators written by and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The plasma focus project began as an effort to develop an intense, pulsed, expendable neutron radiographic source. Since previous efforts to power a plasma focus with explosive generators had been successful, we proposed to couple our plate generators to a coaxial-geometry plasma focus to achieve this goal. Utilizing a small capacitor bank and a selected set of diagnostics, the explosive experiments were successfully conducted with maximum currents of 1.5 MA to 2.4 MA. A maximum neutron yield of approx. 3 x 1011 (DD) neutrons was achieved at the 2.4 MA level. Since the neutron yield did scale as a power of the maximum delivered current, and the neutron-producing source region was small, we conclude that this approach is an attractive option to achieve a neutron radiographic source. The need for a reliable open-circuiting switch at several megamperes has resulted in postponement of the project.