Beryllium Probe Neutron Diagnostic for a Gas-Puff Z-Pinch Neutron Source on a 1MA, 100-NS Linear Transformer Driver

This study is to develop a diagnostic suite for studying neutron production in gas-puff z-pinch experiments on the Michigan Accelerator for Inductive Z-Pinch Experiments (MAIZE) [1] . Of particular interest is measuring neutron yields from DD fusion reactions. Neutron production has been demonstrated recently on MAIZE with bubble detectors, but more accurate measurements of neutron yield are needed. We obtain accurate yield measurements through the use of scintillation techniques, where ionizing radiation is detected by the light produced in a scintillator material. Most scintillation materials convert the kinetic energy of charged particles into detectable light, where the conversion is linear, and the light yield is proportional to the deposited energy [3] . The diagnostic in this study is a beryllium (Be) probe detector, where neutrons activate Be in a 9 Be(n, a) 6 He reaction, and the subsequent decay of 6 He is observed to infer neutron yield [2] . Beta electrons from the decay of 6 He deposit energy in the scintillator and light is emitted and collected by a PMT.