Fusion reactions initiated by laser-accelerated particle beams in a laser-produced plasma

摘要

The advent of high-intensity pulsed laser technology enables the generationof extreme states of matter under conditions that are far from thermalequilibrium. This in turn could enable different approaches to generatingenergy from nuclear fusion. Relaxing the equilibrium requirement could widenthe range of isotopes used in fusion fuels permitting cleaner and lesshazardous reactions that do not produce high energy neutrons. Here we proposeand implement a means to drive fusion reactions between protons and boron-11nuclei, by colliding a laser-accelerated proton beam with a laser-generatedboron plasma. We report proton-boron reaction rates that are orders ofmagnitude higher than those reported previously. Beyond fusion, our approachdemonstrates a new means for exploring low-energy nuclear reactions such asthose that occur in astrophysical plasmas and related environments.