The possibility of using synthetic diamond crystals as a sensitive element of resistive-type thermal sensors developed to control target heating in a neutron generator is discussed. Information about the design and manufacturing technology of a mock-up sample of the temperature sensor, as well as data from an experimental study of its dynamic characteristics, are given. On the example of a neutron generator developed based on a high-current accelerating diode, a scheme for thermal control of a neutron-forming target is proposed.

Degradation of neutron generator targets containing hydrogen isotopes in the occluded state during their periodic pulsed heating by accelerated deuterons is considered. The possible nature of target degradation in time during the operation of a pulsed neutron generator is analyzed.

The paper is devoted to the study of the influence of pulsed instability of neutron generation on the efficiency of small transportable HMCs. Experimental diagrams of the spread of the neutron output per trigger pulse for PNG based on vacuum ATs with vacuum arc and laser sources of deuterons are analyzed. The possibility of approximating the probability density of the distribution with an accuracy of units of percent is established. Mathematical statistics methods have been used to obtain functions that allow correcting the HMC readings, taking into account the influence of the dead time of detection systems and the dispersion of the neutron output of PNG.

Two technological schemes are considered, as well as the possibilities of their implementation for the manufacture of sealed accelerator tubes based on diodes with magnetic isolation Schematic designs of tubes under development with a laser source of deuterons and an electronic conductivity suppression system are presented. To do this, a sufficiently heat-resistant permanent magnet is included in the vacuum volume of the first tube. Another design of the tube contains a pulsed system for suppressing electronic conductivity using a pulsed magnetic field created by a conical spiral placed inside the tube.

An analysis was made of the results of an investigation of switching of a pulsed ionic diode through the bulk of an ion source with a laser plasma and a vacuum arc. The dependences of the neutron yield on the electrical energy of the diode were recorded and analyzed. The results indicated a possible way of simple construction of an acceleration tube with switching via a laser-plasma source.

A study was made of deuteron emission from a vacuum arc plasma stimulated by the action of laser radiation on the surface of zirconium deuteride. A family of dependences of the deuteron yield on the laser energy El and on the energy deposited in the vacuum arc E was obtained in the range El=1—25 mJ, E=0—400 mJ. A correlation was established between the deuteron formation processes in the electrode spots of the vacuum arc and in a laser plasma due to the dependence of the arcing conditions on the laser energy. It is found that an energy an order of magnitude higher was dissipated in the formation of a single deuteron in the electrode spots of the arc compared with that dissipated in the formation of a deuteron in a laser plasma.

Experiments have been performed on neutron generation in small sealed tubes with laser-plasma ion sources. The nuclear reaction T(d, n)He4 has been employed with a laser frequency of 12.5 Hz in producing an output of 5 · 109 n/sec. It is shown that efficient neutron generation is possible for laser pulse energies at the 10−2 J level.