Development of sealed D-T neutron generator for dosimetry and industrial applications

Radioisotope-based neutron sources are employed in a myriad of industrial applications, but they are not well suited for applications that require controlled neutron irradiation and may create the safety issues and logistical complications. In contrast, accelerator-based neutron sources based on the T (d, n)α and D (d, n) 3He reactions, known as D-T and D-D generators respectively, generate quasi-monoenergetic neutrons with neutron energy of 14.1 and 2.45 MeV, respectively, and neutron production can be controlled electronically. This article describes in-house development of sealed D-T neutron source as an alternative to more commonly used 252Cf or 241Am-Be neutron sources. The development of neutron generator requires development of various important sub-components such as Titanium hydride target, solid state gas reservoir, acceleration column and HV supply, etc. The development of suitable thin film using thermal vapor deposition techniques was carried out and used for deuterium/tritium deposition. Similarly, high deuterium storage in a solid reservoir is very crucial for the long life of the neutron generator. Therefore, we have chosen titanium metal due to its good sorption-desorption characteristics. The neutron yield of the generator is 3 × 107 n/s in D-T mode. These neutron generators are widely used as calibration standards for detector calibrations and dosimetry applications. Such generators are now accessible in a range of configurations and are becoming suitable for a variety of other applications such as mining, oil exploration, and elemental characterization of materials.