Browsing by Author "Bowman, Joshua"

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    Deuterium-Deuterium Fusion in the Houghton College Cyclotron
    (Houghton College, 2022-04-08) Bowman, Joshua; Hotchkiss, Andrew; Yuly, Mark
    XL Annual Rochester Symposium for Physics Students, University of Rochester (Rochester, NY).
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    Deuterium-Deuterium Fusion Reactions in the Houghton College Cyclotron
    (Houghton College, 2022-05-12) Bowman, Joshua
    The Houghton College Cyclotron is a miniature particle accelerator that uses two “dee” shaped hollow electrodes, of 15.6 cm radius, to accelerate ions across a gap with an alternating RF potential difference of a few thousand volts at a frequency of 5.831 MHz. As an ion accelerates, an up to 1.13 T magnetic field keeps it on a circular path that spirals outward, allowing the ion to accelerate multiple times using the same electric potential. In this experiment, deuterons were ionized by electrons from a filament and accelerated, with a current of about 20 nA and an approximate energy of 4.8 keV, into a copper target at a radius of 5.54 cm where they embedded themselves. Later deuterons striking the embedded deuterons caused the D(d,n)3He reaction which produced neutrons. A plastic scintillator detector counted the neutrons that penetrated the chamber walls. An increase of 7913±587 counts or 158±12 counts per minute was detected when the beam was turned on. This is a significant milestone for the Houghton College Cyclotron as it is the first nuclear reaction that this cyclotron has successfully generated.
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    Producing the 2H (d,n)3He reaction with the Houghton College Cyclotron
    (Houghton College, 2022-04-08) Hotchkiss, Andrew; Bowman, Joshua; Yuly, Mark
    The Houghton College Cyclotron accelerates ions inside of a 17 cm inner diameter evacuated aluminum chamber placed between the poles of a 1.2 T electromagnet. Very low pressure gas allowed into the evacuated chamber is ionized by electrons coming from a filament. Inside the chamber, a high voltage RF signal applied to a “dee” shaped electrode accelerates the ions each time they are between the dee and a grounded “dummy dee”, resulting in a spiral path because of the magnetic field. The cyclotron has successfully accelerated hydrogen, helium and most recently, deuterium. The deuterons were allowed to implant into a copper target, where they reacted via 2 H( d,n 3 He to produce neutrons which were detected using a plastic scintillator outside the vacuum chamber.
    XL Annual Rochester Symposium for Physics Students, University of Rochester, April 8, 2022.
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    Progress toward using ICF to measure light-ion nuclear cross sections
    (Houghton College, 2020-05-29) Yuly, Mark; Padalino, Stephen; Christensen, Micah; Bowman, Joshua