a few kilovolts. Loss of suppressor voltage will result in damage, possibly catastrophic, to the neutron tube. Some neutron tubes incorporate an intermediate electrode, called the focus or extractor electrode, to control the size of the beam spot on the target. The gas pressure in the source is regulated by heating or cooling the gas reservoir element. Radio frequency (RF) Ions can be created by electrons formed in high-frequency electromagnetic field. The discharge is formed in a tube located between electrodes, or inside a coil. Over 90% proportion of atomic ions is achievable. Targets The targets used in neutron generators are thin films of metal such as titanium, scandium, or zirconium which are deposited onto a silver, copper or molybdenum substrate. Titanium, scandium, and zirconium form stable chemical compounds called metal hydrides when combined with hydrogen or its isotopes. These metal hydrides are made up of two hydrogen (deuterium or tritium) atoms per metal atom and allow the target to have extremely high densities of hydrogen. This is important to maximize the neutron yield of the neutron tube. The gas reservoir element also uses metal hydrides, e.g. uranium hydride, as the active material. Titanium is preferred to zirconium as it can withstand higher temperatures (200 °C), and gives higher neutron yield as it captures deuterons better than zirconium. The maximum temperature allowed for the target, above which hydrogen isotopes undergo desorption and escape the material, limits the ion current per surface unit of the target; slightly divergent beams are therefore used. A 1 microampere ion beam accelerated at 200 kV to a titanium-tritium target can generate up to 108 neutrons per second. The neutron yield is mostly determined by the accelerating voltage and the ion current level. An example of a tritium target in use is a 0.2 mm thick silver disc with a 1 micrometer layer of titanium deposited on its surface; the titanium is then saturated with tritium. Metals with sufficiently low hydrogen diffusion can be turned into deuterium targets by bombardment of deuterons until the metal is saturated. Gold targets under such condition show four times higher efficiency than titanium. Even better results can be achieved with targets made of a thin film of a high-absorption high-diffusivity metal (e.g. titanium) on a substrate with low hydrogen diffusivity (e.g. silver), as the hydrogen is then concentrated on the top layer and can not diffuse away into the bulk