title: High-power liquid-lithium jet target for neutron production.
abstract: A compact liquid-lithium target (LiLiT) was built and tested with a high-power electron gun at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center. The lithium target, to be bombarded by the high-intensity proton beam of the Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility (SARAF), will constitute an intense source of neutrons produced by the (7)Li(p,n)(7)Be reaction for nuclear astrophysics research and as a pilot setup for accelerator-based Boron Neutron Capture Therapy. The liquid-lithium jet target acts both as neutron-producing target and beam dump by removing the beam thermal power (>5 kW, >1 MW/cm(3)) with fast transport. The target was designed based on a thermal model, accompanied by a detailed calculation of the (7)Li(p,n) neutron yield, energy distribution, and angular distribution. Liquid lithium is circulated through the target loop at ~200 °C and generates a stable 1.5 mm-thick film flowing at a velocity up to 7 m/s onto a concave supporting wall. Electron beam irradiation demonstrated that the liquid-lithium target can dissipate electron power areal densities of >4 kW/cm(2) and volume power density of ~2 MW/cm(3) at a lithium flow of ~4 m/s while maintaining stable temperature and vacuum conditions. The LiLiT setup is presently in online commissioning stage for high-intensity proton beam irradiation (1.91-2.5 MeV, 1-2 mA) at SARAF.
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Halfon
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arenshtam
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kijel
authors.affiliation: Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berkovits
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Eliyahu
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feinberg
authors.affiliation: Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hazenshprung
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mardor
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagler
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shimel
authors.affiliation: Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tessler
authors.affiliation: Soreq NRC, Yavne 81800, Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Silverman