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Pyroelectric Crystal Accelerator In The Department Of Physics And Nuclear Engineering At West Point

Pyroelectric Crystal Accelerator In The Department Of Physics And Nuclear Engineering At West Point

Authors :
Don Gillich
Mike Shannon
Andrew Kovanen
Tom Anderson
Kevin Bright
Ronald Edwards
Yaron Danon
Brian Moretti
Jeffrey Musk
Floyd D. McDaniel
Barney L. Doyle
Source :
AIP Conference Proceedings.
Publication Year :
2011
Publisher :
AIP, 2011.

Abstract

The Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Center (NSERC), a Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) office located at the United States Military Academy (USMA), sponsors and manages cadet and faculty research in support of DTRA objectives. The NSERC has created an experimental pyroelectric crystal accelerator program to enhance undergraduate education at USMA in the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering. This program provides cadets with hands‐on experience in designing their own experiments using an inexpensive tabletop accelerator. This device uses pyroelectric crystals to ionize and accelerate gas ions to energies of ∼100 keV. Within the next year, cadets and faculty at USMA will use this device to create neutrons through the deuterium‐deuterium (D‐D) fusion process, effectively creating a compact, portable neutron generator. The double crystal pyroelectric accelerator will also be used by students to investigate neutron, x‐ray, and ion spectroscopy.

Details

ISSN :
0094243X
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
AIP Conference Proceedings
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........9411462a11f0c0b7986602952a3b5588
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3586206