Cherenkov detector analysis for implosions with multiple nuclear reactions

Rev Sci Instrum. 2018 Oct;89(10):10I103. doi: 10.1063/1.5038901.

Abstract

Nuclear reactions that produce γ rays occur in inertial fusion implosions and are commonly measured with Cherenkov detectors. Typically a detector is primarily sensitive to a single reaction, but in some implosions, multiple fusion reactions can occur and are combined in the data. We discuss an analysis technique using multiple thresholded detectors to reproduce the individual burn histories from reactions like DT and HT fusion, which is applicable to separated-reactant mix experiments. Requirements for this technique and resulting analysis uncertainties are quantified using synthetic data.