Neutron Producing Reactions in Implosion and Direct Heating Experiments of Inertial Confinement Fusion

Abstract

Neutron production is the critical factor in judging the success of fusion in implosion and direct heating pathways for implementing inertial confinement fusion (ICF) using CD and CD₂ targets. Therefore, identifying the source of the emitted neutrons is the most important factor in determining whether nuclear fusion has been achieved efficiently or not. Thermonuclear and beam fusions of the D(d, n)³He reaction were thought to be the only neutron-producing reactions in the ICF pathway. This work, through in-depth analysis of experimental measurements and simulations using the 3D Monte Carlo code MCUNED, demonstrates that several neutron-producing interactions contribute to the overall neutron yield. The ¹²C(d, n)¹³N, and D(¹²c, n)¹³N stripping reactions participate in the neutron production with much higher neutron yield compared to the D(d, n)³He fusion reaction. Deuteron Break-up, photodissociation, electro-disintegration and photonuclear reactions can contribute to the total neutron production. The relative contribution of each reaction compared to the D(d, n)³He reaction was determined. Based on the above, considering the D(d, n)³He fusion reaction as the only source of neutrons will lead to incorrect results.