Neutron generation by laser irradiation of CD{sub}4 clusters

摘要

It was shown in 1999 that D2 cluster explosion under ultrashort intense laser irradiation can lead to ion energies sufficient to drive nuclear fusion reactions [Ditmire et al. Nature 398, 491]. We show how the use of molecular clusters allows to further enhance the ionic acceleration, allowing one to reach optimal fusion cross sections. A new low density high energy regime is described, in which fusion occurs via a spallation-like process. The process increases with laser intensity up to the relativistic threshold, at which the neutron production is overwhelmed by gamma production resulting from electron acceleration.