TU Darmstadt / ULB / TUprints

High deuteron and neutron yields from the interaction of a petawatt laser with a cryogenic deuterium jet

Jiao, X. ; Curry, C. B. ; Gauthier, M. ; Chou, H.-G. J. ; Fiuza, F. ; Kim, J. B. ; Phan, D. D. ; McCary, E. ; Galtier, E. C. ; Dyer, G. M. ; Ofori-Okai, B. K. ; Labun, L. ; Labun, O. Z. ; Schoenwaelder, C. ; Roycroft, R. ; Tiwari, G. ; Glenn, G. D. ; Treffert, F. ; Glenzer, S. H. ; Hegelich, B. M. (2023)
High deuteron and neutron yields from the interaction of a petawatt laser with a cryogenic deuterium jet.
In: Frontiers in Physics, 2023, 10
doi: 10.26083/tuprints-00023123
Article, Secondary publication, Publisher's Version

[img] Text
fphy-10-964696.pdf
Copyright Information: CC BY 4.0 International - Creative Commons, Attribution.

Download (1MB)
Item Type: Article
Type of entry: Secondary publication
Title: High deuteron and neutron yields from the interaction of a petawatt laser with a cryogenic deuterium jet
Language: English
Date: 24 January 2023
Place of Publication: Darmstadt
Year of primary publication: 2023
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Journal or Publication Title: Frontiers in Physics
Volume of the journal: 10
Collation: 12 Seiten
DOI: 10.26083/tuprints-00023123
Corresponding Links:
Origin: Secondary publication DeepGreen
Abstract:

A compact high-flux, short-pulse neutron source would have applications from nuclear astrophysics to cancer therapy. Laser-driven neutron sources can achieve fluxes much higher than spallation and reactor neutron sources by reducing the volume and time in which the neutron-producing reactions occur by orders of magnitude. We report progress towards an efficient laser-driven neutron source in experiments with a cryogenic deuterium jet on the Texas Petawatt laser. Neutrons were produced both by laser-accelerated multi-MeV deuterons colliding with Be and mixed metallic catchers and by d (d,n)³He fusion reactions within the jet. We observed deuteron yields of 10¹³/shot in quasi-Maxwellian distributions carrying ∼ 8 − 10 % of the input laser energy. We obtained neutron yields greater than 10¹⁰/shot and found indications of a deuteron-deuteron fusion neutron source with high peak flux (> 10²² cm⁻² s⁻¹). The estimated fusion neutron yield in our experiment is one order of magnitude higher than any previous laser-induced dd fusion reaction. Though many technical challenges will have to be overcome to convert this proof-of-principle experiment into a consistent ultra-high flux neutron source, the neutron fluxes achieved here suggest laser-driven neutron sources can support laboratory study of the rapid neutron-capture process, which is otherwise thought to occur only in astrophysical sites such as core-collapse supernova, and binary neutron star mergers.

Uncontrolled Keywords: laser-driven neutron source, high-flux neutron source, rapid neutron capture process, laboratory astro-nuclear physics experiment, laser-driven fusion, laser-driven ion source
Status: Publisher's Version
URN: urn:nbn:de:tuda-tuprints-231239
Classification DDC: 500 Science and mathematics > 530 Physics
Divisions: 05 Department of Physics > Institute of Nuclear Physics
Date Deposited: 24 Jan 2023 13:17
Last Modified: 14 Nov 2023 19:05
SWORD Depositor: Deep Green
URI: https://tuprints.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/id/eprint/23123
PPN: 504214489
Export:
Actions (login required)
View Item View Item