Editing Neutron generator (section)

==Sealed neutron tubes==
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The central part of a neutron generator is the particle accelerator itself, sometimes called a neutron tube. Neutron tubes have several components including an ion source, ion optic elements, and a beam target; all of these are enclosed within a vacuum-tight enclosure. High voltage insulation between the ion optical elements of the tube is provided by glass and/or ceramic insulators. The neutron tube is, in turn, enclosed in a metal housing, the accelerator head, which is filled with a dielectric medium to insulate the high voltage elements of the tube from the operating area. The accelerator and ion source high voltages are provided by external power supplies. The control console allows the operator to adjust the operating parameters of the neutron tube. The power supplies and control equipment are normally located within {{convert|3|-|10|m|round=10|ft}} of the accelerator head in laboratory instruments, but may be several [[kilometer]]s away in [[well logging]] instruments.

In comparison with their predecessors, sealed neutron tubes do not require [[vacuum pump]]s and gas sources for operation. They are therefore more mobile and compact, while also durable and reliable. For example, sealed neutron tubes have replaced radioactive [[modulated neutron initiator]]s, in supplying a pulse of neutrons to the imploding core of modern [[nuclear weapon]]s.

Examples of neutron tube ideas date as far back as the 1930s, pre-nuclear weapons era, by German scientists filing a 1938 German patent (March 1938, patent #261,156) and obtaining a United States Patent (July 1941, USP #2,251,190); examples of present state of the art are given by developments such as the [[Neutristor]],<ref>{{ cite journal |author1=Elizondo-Decanini, J. M. |author2=Schmale, D. |author3=Cich, M. |author4=Martinez, M. |author5=Youngman, K. |author6=Senkow, M. |author7=Kiff, S. |author8=Steele, J. |author9=Goeke, R. |author10=Wroblewski, B. |author11=Desko, J. |author12=Dragt, A. J. | title = Novel Surface-Mounted Neutron Generator | journal = IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science | year = 2012 | volume = 40 | issue = 9 | pages = 2145–2150 | doi = 10.1109/TPS.2012.2204278 |bibcode = 2012ITPS...40.2145E |s2cid=20593594 }}</ref> a mostly solid state device, resembling a computer chip, invented at [[Sandia National Laboratories]] in Albuquerque NM.<ref>{{ cite web | title=Neutron generators with size scalability, ease of fabrication and multiple ion source functionalities | author=<!-- not stated --> | access-date=7 May 2025 | url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US8891721/en}}</ref> Typical sealed designs are used in a pulsed mode<ref>{{ cite journal |author1=Gow, J. D. |author2=Pollock, H. C. | title = Development of a Compact Evacuated Pulsed Neutron Source | journal = Review of Scientific Instruments | year = 1960 | volume = 31 | issue = 3 | pages = 235–240 | doi = 10.1063/1.1716948 |bibcode = 1960RScI...31..235G |s2cid=122984928 |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/11v284jd }}</ref> and can be operated at different output levels, depending on the life from the ion source and loaded targets.<ref>{{ cite journal |author1=Walko, R. J. |author2=Rochau, G. E. | title = A High Output Neutron Tube Using an Occluded Gas Ion Source | journal = IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science | year = 1981 | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 1531–1534 | doi = 10.1109/TNS.1981.4331459 |bibcode = 1981ITNS...28.1531W |s2cid=32794354 }}</ref>

[[File:Neutristor in its simplest form.JPG|thumb|[[Neutristor]] in an inexpensive vacuum sealed package ready for testing]]