EVALUATION OF THE PLASMA FOCUS AS A THRUSTER WITH NEUTRON-LEAN FUSION REACTIONS

AN EXTENSIVE EVALUATION OF A PLASMA THRUSTER FOR SPACE PROPULSION IS PROPOSED IN THE LIGHT OF NEW RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. THE PLASMA FOCUS WITH A MATHER'S GEOMETRY IN ITS MOST ADVANCED FORM, APF, HAS FIELD DISTORTION ELEMENTS IN THE INTER-ELECTRODE GAP FOR INCREASING THE FUSION REACTION YIELD BY A FACTOR 5-10 AND HAS EXPERIMENTALLY DEMONSTRATED THE CAPABILITY OF PRODUCING A SUBSTANTIAL REACTION YIELD FROM FUSION REACTIONS OF HIGH-Z NUCLEI IN THE PLASMA PINCH. FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS OF PLASMA FOCUS RESEARCH WILL BE BENEFICIAL FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF PLASMA FOCUS MACHINES SUCH AS, AMONG OTHER APPLICATIONS, NEUTRON RADIOGRAPHY (SLOW AND FAST NEUTRONS FOR THICK OBJECTS RADIOGRAPHY), X-RAY LITHOGRAPHY, SHORT-LIFE ISOTOPE PRODUCTION FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS. THE PROPOSED PROJECT APPEARS TO HAVE POTENTIAL USE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR ALL THE REASONS STATED ABOVE AND/OR AS PLASMA THRUSTER WITH FUSION REACTIONS.