High-resolution spectroscopy used to measure inertial confinement fusion neutron spectra on Omega (invited)

Rev Sci Instrum. 2012 Oct;83(10):10D919. doi: 10.1063/1.4742926.

Abstract

The areal density (ρR) of cryogenic DT implosions on Omega is inferred by measuring the spectrum of neutrons that elastically scatter off the dense deuterium (D) and tritium (T) fuel. Neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) techniques are used to measure the energy spectrum with high resolution. High signal-to-background data has been recorded on cryogenic DT implosions using a well-collimated 13.4-m line of sight and an nTOF detector with an advanced liquid scintillator compound. An innovative method to analyze the elastically scattered neutron spectra was developed using well-known cross sections of the DT nuclear reactions. The estimated areal densities are consistent with alternative ρR measurements and 1-D simulations.