Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Small wire brush deuterium ion generators
Date: Jun 28, 1:30 pm
Poster: Mark Sloan

On Jun 28, 1:30 pm, Mark Sloan wrote:

How about attaching small wire brushes to the inner wall of the outer shell? Due to steep electric field gradients at the sharp ends of the wires, lots of deuterium could be ionized at just the right place. They should then accelerate toward the center with full fusor voltage.

Further, these ion creation sites could be positioned on the outer shell so that the direct path to the center of the fusor passes through the center of an opening in the inner grid. This arrangement avoids hitting the inner grid wires and may suppress the electron and any negative ion jets coming out of the central region. Since any electrons or negative ions from the central region to the outer + shell represent a system loss, this aspect may increase system efficiency and the maximum voltage the fusor can be run at. However, offsetting this advantage, counteracting the emitted negative ion beams may reduce the energy of the incoming + deuterium ions.