Investigation of the Measured and Computed Neutron Yield From the PF-24 Device Operated With D2- $x$ %Ar Admixture

Many experiments have been carried out on the (16.8 kJ, 17 kV) dense plasma focus PF-24 device operated with pure deuterium and deuterium-argon admixture. The main purpose of the work was to investigate the influence of the doping argon on the average total neutron yields experimentally and numerically. The 103 discharges (34 for D
₂
, 69 for D
₂
-x %Ar, where x = 3, 5, 10, 15, 22, 25, 30, 45, 60) were performed in four experimental sessions under constant total initial optimum pressure of about 2.2 torr. The total current and its time derivative traces, as well as the total neutron yield values, were recorded, and the electro-kinetic plasma parameters were estimated for each shot. The Lee model has also been adapted for gas mixture plasma focus modeling, and then the enhanced code was used for simulation of each of the PF-24 discharge with D
₂
and D
₂
-x %Ar. The fitting parameters for each shot are found and discussed. The measured and computed values of the neutron yield and the electro-kinetic plasma parameters are in good agreement. The obtained results showed that there is no neutron yield enhancement with argon seeding. The scaling law of the neutron yield Y
_n
against argon fraction has been deduced. Additionally, our results illustrate that the PF-24 plasma focus device has an optimized configuration for the DD fusion neutron emission.