Experimental Study of Titanium Driven-in Targets in Compact D-D Neutron Generator

Deuterium target, as one of the key components in the neutron generator, directly affects the neutron yield of the neutron generator. The key issues in the design, fabrication, characteristics and experiments of the titanium drive-in target were systematically studied in this article. First, oxygen-free copper material is used for the target substrate with a dedicated water loop in order to reduce the target surface temperature during accelerator operation. According to the results of the ANSYS simulation and electron gun experiment, the target surface temperature was controlled below 200℃ well during neutron generator operation. Second, a micron pure titanium film was coated on the target substrate surface through magnetron sputtering technology. The structure and properties of the titanium film were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope, an X-ray diffractometer and a nano-scratch instrument. The results showed that the titanium film was coated uniformly and densely on the surface. The adhesion between the titanium film and substrate is about 0.22 N. Finally, In the ICP neutron generator, the neutron yield reached 1.25×10⁸ n/s, and in the ECR neutron generator, the neutron yield reached 1.75×10⁸ n/s; both achieved 5 hours of stable operation.