Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>In this paper, experimental results of the world's most energy-efficient and highest-current Mega-Joule-class dense plasma focus (DPF) facility, FAETON-X (FX), are presented. FX was designed as the direct MJ-class scale-up of FAETON-I (F-I), which demonstrated the correlation between dynamics-induced pinch voltage and neutron yield. Building on those results, Fuse Energy Technologies designed, constructed, and commissioned FX as a single-pulse flash neutron source purpose-built as a pulsed power fusion R&D and radiation effects testing platform with both D-D and D-T fusion fuels. Its 500 µF capacitor bank comprises 20 capacitors, each rated at 25 µF and 100 kV, storing 1 MJ at a 65 kV charge voltage, with a peak discharge current exceeding 4.5 MA and a static inductance of 55 nH. FX achieves a figure of merit of 4.5 MA/MJ the highest reported for any MJ-class DPF and significantly above all contemporaneous MJ-class peers, which range from 2.35 to 3.25 MA/MJ. Since neutron yield scales as Yn ∝ I4, this step-change in energy efficiency directly translates to superior neutron output per joule of stored energy in optimized conditions. FX, not yet fully conditioned, produces ∼5×1011 D-D neutrons/shot, with a peak recorded yield of (1.27±0.27)×1012 neutrons/shot at 10 Torr deuterium. Continued conditioning is expected to further increase neutron production.</p>