Neutron Source - Moderately-sized Devices

Moderately-sized Devices

Plasma focus and plasma pinch devices

The plasma focus neutron source (see dense plasma focus, not to be confused with the so-called Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor) produces controlled nuclear fusion by creating a dense plasma within which ionized deuterium and/or tritium gas is heated to temperatures sufficient for creating fusion.

Light ion accelerators

Traditional particle accelerators with hydrogen (H), deuterium (D), or tritium (T) ion sources may be used to produce neutrons using targets of deuterium, tritium, lithium, beryllium, and other low-Z materials. Typically these accelerators operate with voltages in the > 1 MeV range,

High energy photoneutron/photofission systems

Neutrons (photoneutrons) are produced when photons above the nuclear binding energy of a substance are incident on that substance, causing it to undergo giant dipole resonance after which it either emits a neutron (photodisintegration) or undergoes fission (photofission). The number of neutrons released by each fission event is dependent on the substance. Typically photons begin to produce neutrons on interaction with normal matter at energies of about 7 to 40 MeV, which means that megavoltage photon radiotherapy facilities may produce neutron radiation as well, and require special shielding for it. In addition, fast electrons of energy over about 50 MeV may also induce giant dipole resonance in nuclides by a mechanism which is the inverse of internal conversion, and electron linacs can be used directly as sources of "virtual photons" that produce bombardment neutrons by a mechanism similar to that of photoneutrons.