Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

Method for Recording Broadband High Resolution Emission Spectra of Laboratory Lightning Arcs
Published on: August 27, 2019
Observation of neutron bursts produced by laboratory high-voltage atmospheric discharge
A V Agafonov1, A V Bagulya, O D Dalkarov
1P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FIAN), Leninsky Prospekt, 53, Moscow 119991, Russia.
Abstract:
For the first time the emission of neutron bursts in the process of high-voltage discharge in air was observed. Experiments were carried out at an average electric field strength of ∼1 MV·m(-1) and discharge current of ∼10 kA. Two independent methods (CR-39 track detectors and plastic scintillation detectors) registered neutrons within the range from thermal energies up to energies above 10 MeV and with an average flux density of ≳10(6) cm(-2) per shot inside the discharge zone. Neutron generation occurs at the initial phase of the discharge and correlates with x-ray generation. The data obtained allow us to assume that during the discharge fast neutrons are mainly produced.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Lab
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Overview
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Instrumentation
Van de Graaff Generator
Van de Graaff uses both smooth and pointed surfaces, conductors, and insulators to generate large static charges and, hence, large voltages. A substantial excess charge can be deposited on the sphere because it moves...
Nuclear Transmutation
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Principle
The ions and electrons produced interact with the fluctuating magnetic field created by a water-cooled...

