On Acceleration and Confinement of Ions by the Field of Virtual Cathode in Plasma of a Nanosecond Vacuum Discharge

Previously, based on the miniature nanosecond low-energy vacuum discharge, a reverse-polarity scheme of inertial electrostatic confinement was implemented. In the experiment and PiC modeling, the possibility of confinement and acceleration of ions up to energies of tens of keV by the virtual cathode field in a nanosecond vacuum discharge has been discovered. Both DD-neutrons and α-particles have been obtained experimentally from the proton–boron aneutronic reaction. This work presents results of PiC modeling in the KARAT electromagnetic code as applied to processes leading to the proton–boron reaction for the real electrode geometry used in first experiments on aneutronic synthesis in a miniature device based on the nanosecond vacuum discharge. As follows from the results, the total yield of α-particles occurs in the experiment due to only single convergences of protons and boron ions to the discharge axis. The protons and ions are accelerated in a very narrow potential well and oscillations of ions during the applied voltage pulse are almost absent. Formation of a larger-volume potential well (wide in radius and extended along the discharge axis) with pronounced oscillations of protons and boron ions can provide a noticeable increase in the yield of the proton–boron reaction.