Tritium Gas Target for Neutron Production

Abstract

This paper reports a self‐contained tritium gas target including beam collimator, target cell, and gas reservoir which has been used for the production of neutrons from the T(d,n)He⁴ and T(p,n)He³ reactions. Beam collimators are 0.14‐in. tantalum apertures aligned in precision 1‐in. tubing to assure accurate beam measurement. The gas cell is $\frac{5}{16}$ in. diam and may be any length less than 3 in. The target window is a 0.00005‐in. nickel foil soldered on a ¼‐in. i.d. re‐entrant tube. Tritium is supplied from a uranium‐tritide oven; hydrogen‐tritium exchange is minimized by the use of nonhydrogenous materials. A discussion is given of handling of tritium. The target will tolerate a 1 μamp beam of 2‐Mev deuterons for several days without foil damage.