Initial stages in hundreds of Joules plasma focus operating in deuterium-argon mixtures: Preliminary results

Abstract

In plasma focus research, the mixture of deuterium with noble gases has been one of the attempts for both improving the radiation yield and for understanding of the origin of the fusion reactions. However, differences on the neutron emission from the plasma focus operating with gas mixtures according to the device energy have been reported. In an attempt to improve the understanding of such experimental observations, experiments in a very low energy plasma focus device (400J) working with gas mixtures are presented. Different stages prior to the final compression of the plasma focus discharges were studied; such as the breakdown phase and the plasma sheath movement. The electrical signals analysis shows differences on the breakdown voltage but similar axial sheath velocities. Nonetheless, these preliminary observations must be corroborated with additional experimental data.