Sustained Neutron Production from a Sheared-Flow Stabilized Z Pinch

The sheared-flow stabilized Z pinch has demonstrated long-lived plasmas with fusion-relevant parameters. We present the first experimental results demonstrating sustained, quasi-steady-state neutron production from the fusion Z -pinch experiment, operated with a mixture of 20% deuterium/80% hydrogen by pressure. Neutron emissions lasting approximately 5 μ s are reproducibly observed with pinch currents of approximately 200 kA during an approximately 16 μ s period of plasma quiescence. The average neutron yield is estimated to be (1.25 ±0.45 ) ×10⁵ neutrons /pulse and scales with the square of the deuterium concentration. Coincident with the neutron signal, plasma temperatures of 1-2 keV and densities of approximately 1 0¹⁷ cm^-3 with 0.3 cm pinch radii are measured with fully integrated diagnostics.