The deuterium-tritium (DT) generator produces fusion 14.1 MeV neutrons by accelerating deuterons to ~100 keV, and impinging them on a tritium target. This allows the former to overcome the Coulomb barrier and trigger the d+t—> n + alpha + 17 MeV reaction. The neutron carries away about 14.1 MeV in kinetic energy.

The model used in our lab is a Thermo Fisher P383, and can generate ~ 3 x 10^8 neutrons/sec. It can be pulsed to >3 us pulses, with a repetition period of ~200 us.

Figure 5-1 (from Ethan Klein’s thesis) shows the NRTA experimental setup with the DT generator in the right. Below is a (handheld) version of P383.