| Zdroj: |
Ho, C, Ahmed, H, McIlvenny, A, Bonnay, P, Chagovets, T, Chatain, D, Ferguson, S, Garcia, D, Girard, A, Giuffrida, L, Greenwood, B, Grepl, F, Lazzarini, C, Milluzzo, G, Nawaz, F, Notley, M, Schillaci, F, Scuderi, V, Souris, F, Tryus, M, Velyhan, A, Margarone, D, Borghesi, M & Kar, S 2022, ' Deuterons and neutrons from cryogenic deuterium ribbons at Vulcan Petawatt ', Paper presented at 48th European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics, virtual, online, 27/06/2022-01/07/2022 . < https://indico.fusenet.eu/event/28/contributions/215/ > |
| Popis: |
The sustained interest in laser-driven neutron sources comes from their compactness and affordability while opening the possibilities for a wide range of applications, potentially complementing the research carried out at large-scale spallation facilities. An experiment was carried out at the Vulcan Petawatt facility (CLF, UK) to generate bright, ultra-short neutron bursts employing cryogenic ribbons of solid deuterium. Cryogenic targets can in principle produce single species, debris-free ion beams suitable for a wide range of applications. Deuterium ions up to 25 MeV/nucleon were detected in the forward direction, correspondingly with high energy neutrons in high fluxes being produced. Due to the low density of the target (∼200 mg/cc) and the significant radiation pressure at the delivered laser intensities (5 × 1019 − 5 × 1020 W/cm2), considerable compression of the deuterium plasma at the front surface is expected and accelerating bulk deuterium by the hole-boring mechanism. The neutrons are subsequently produced by the d(d,n)3He fusion reaction in the target bulk driven by ions produced by the hole-boring front. Preliminary particle-in-cell simulations support the experimental results to explain the underlying physics involving ps-class lasers at linear polarisation. |
