Fusor

An electrostatic inertial confinement ( inertial electrostatic confinement English, IEC ) is a method, a plasma high density and high ion energy alone or especially with the help of an electric field to produce. IEC - assemblies are built with the aim to achieve fusion reactions between nuclei of hydrogen isotopes (deuterium or deuterium and tritium). Therefore, the devices are named after their developers also Farnsworth - Hirsch Fusor, or deer - Meeks Fusor. The Polywell arrangement is thus related concept.

Since the hydrogen fusion reactions neutrons are released, the electrostatic inertial confinement can be used as a basis for a neutron source.

Technology

The concept of the electro- static inertial confinement to achieve nuclear fusion is based on that the deuterium and / or tritium ions are held in place by an electric field in a small region of space, and bombarded on the outside with other, high-energy ions of the same type (s). In contrast to nuclear fusion reactors with magnetic confinement energy is therefore not given the push by the temperature of the plasma, but there can be higher (by means of high acceleration voltages) ion energies are used. Thus, the Coulomb barrier is easily overcome in the collision, so that the probability ( cross section ) increases for the fusion reaction in the collision.

A frequency of fusion reactions, which would be sufficient for a net energy, can not be achieved with this method.

History

Early work on this technique were performed by Philo Farnsworth on the basis of observations in television tubes. The original designs in the early 1960s based on cylindrical arrays of electrodes. The fuel for the fusion so deuterium is accelerated from ion sources in the direction of the internal reaction zone; there should be ions of the fuel are retained by electrostatic forces. Farnsworth coined the term Inertial Electrostatic Confinement ( German: , electrostatic inertial confinement '). With the inertial confinement within the meaning of inertial confinement fusion, this technique has nothing to do.

Significant developments were made by Robert L. Hirsch. He built in the late 1960's a great device with six ion sources and a high voltage supply to 150 kV. With this device, almost 108 fusion events per second were achieved with deuterium. In addition, Hirsch proposed a structure without an ion cannon. In this case, a high voltage between two concentric spherical electrode grids is applied are in a larger container which is filled with deuterium at a low pressure. The inspired by the high- voltage glow discharge generated by electron impact the desired deuterium ions.

In the early 1980s, has been demonstrated in various experiments that a potential minimum is formed in such an arrangement within the inner spherical grid electrode. However, further studies could not detect any increased ion density in this potential.

Experiments, usually with glow discharge, but also with additional ion sources, such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory were also at other institutions and carried out by Daimler- Chrysler Aerospace ( 1996-2000).