Observation of nuclear fusion driven by a pyroelectric crystal.

摘要

Intense x-ray electron and electron emissions in excess of 100 keV from pyroelectric crystals are a remarkable and well-documented phenomenon. Since these energies are sufficient to fuse nuclei, one soon wonders whether these crystals can also act as intense ion sources. This has proven more difficult. This research sought to develop a pyroelectric ion beam source capable of currents greater than a nanoamp and energies greater than 100 keV, with a goal of fusing deuterons and detecting the resulting 2.45 MeV neutrons.;Such a source is developed and demonstrated. Particular care is taken in the neutron measurement. Our liquid scintillator digitizing neutron detector is described. Cosmic and terrestrial sources of background are measured and discussed. A potential application of pyroelectric fusion to associated particle imaging is presented.