Producing the 2H (d,n)3He reaction with the Houghton College Cyclotron

Abstract

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.