Gas-target neutron generation and applications

A method of producing neutrons in a chamber containing an anode electrode, a suppressor cathode electrode, consisting of a semi-transparent electrically-conducting material that limits electron flow to said anode, and a leeching cathode electrode, consisting of a semi-transparent electrically-conducting material that removes electrons, comprising the steps of;

• introducing a fusible gas, comprising either deuterium gas or a mixture of deuterium and tritium gas, into the vacuum chamber;
• creating high voltage differentials between the cathode electrodes, comprised of said suppressor electrode and said leeching electrode, and said anode electrode, and a bias voltage to said suppressor electrode relative to said leeching cathode, such that a high-pressure high-resistance gaseous discharge forms primarily between said anode and said cathode electrodes and extends through the openings of said semi-transparent cathode electrodes, passing through said suppressor electrode and said leeching electrode and an intra-cathode region defined by the volume enclosed by said suppressor electrode, and such that ions resulting from said gaseous discharge and constituted from the group consisting of said fusible gas are accelerated by said voltage differential, with a substantial portion of said ions passing through the openings of said semi-transparent cathode electrodes;
• allowing a portion of said ions to undergo charge-exchange collisions with background gas particles, comprised of said fusible gas, to become fast-neutral particles selected from the group consisting of deuterium particles and tritium particles, such that a portion of said fast-neutral particles pass through said openings of said semi-transparent cathode electrodes, and such that a high-pressure high-resistance gaseous discharge is sustained primarily through charged particle generation initiated by said ions and said fast neutral particles;
• and generating neutrons from said high-pressure high-resistance gaseous discharge as a product of fusion collisions occurring between said ions and said background gas particles and between said fast-neutral particles and said background gas particles.