A plasma channel scheme for the interaction of an intense femtosecond laser pulse with a deuterium cluster jet

We propose a plasma channel scheme to obtain an improved table-top laser driven fusion neutron yield as a result of explosions of large deuterium clusters irradiated by an intense laser pulse. A cylindrical plasma channel is created by two moderate intensity laser prepulses at the edge of a deuterium cluster jet along which an intense main laser pulse propagates several nanoseconds later. With the aid of this plasma channel, the main laser pulse will be allowed to deposit its energy into the central region of the deuterium gas jet where the cluster sizes are larger and the atomic density is higher. The plasma channel formation and its impact on the deuterium ion energy spectrum and the consequent fusion neutron yield have been investigated. The calculated results show that a remarkable increase of the table-top laser driven fusion neutron yield would be expected.     

超强超短脉冲激光诱发大尺度氘团簇聚变

 利用低温脉冲气阀获得了平均含有3×103氘原子的氘团簇。在飞秒激光装置上实现了氘团簇聚变,每发中子产额为1×10³。中子产额对激光功率密度敏感,保持激光能量不变,随着激光焦斑的变大,DD聚变中子产额逐渐增加,最大值出现在激光焦斑为470 mm时;继续增大激光焦斑,没有观察到中子信号。实验结果还表明激光氘团簇聚变发生的区域主要是激光辐照的等离子体热区,此区域内邻近氘团簇库仑爆炸发射的高能氘离子碰撞引发聚变反应。     

Deuterium Clusters Fusion Induced by the Intense Femtosecond Laser Pulse

Neutrons （2.45MeV） from deuterium cluster fusion induced by the intense femtosecond （3Ors） laser pulse are experimentally demonstrated. The average neutron yield 103 per shot is obtained. It is found that the yield slightly increases with the increasing laser spot size. No neutron can be observed when the laser intensity I 〈 4.3 × 10^15 W/cm^2.     

SILEX-I装置上激光-团簇聚变实验中子产额测量

 超短超强脉冲激光与CD4团簇相互作用可以产生高能量的氘离子,从而产生DD聚变中子,这种团簇聚变中子源有着非常广阔的应用前景。在SILEX-I 100 TW飞秒激光装置上,超短超强脉冲激光与CD₄团簇相互作用实现了DD核聚变。团簇聚变的中子产额是实验中最为重要的物理量,在实验中采用高灵敏的中子探测器对团簇聚变产生的中子进行了测量,在现有实验条件下测得中子产额为10³。     

Coulomb expansion of deuterated methane clusters irradiated by an ultrashort intense laser pulse

The simulations of three-dimensional particle dynamics show that when irradiated by an ultrashort intense laser pulse, the deuterated methane cluster expands and the majority of deuterons overrun the more slowly expanding carbon ions, resulting in the creation of two separated subelusters. The enhanced deuteron kinetic energy and a narrow peak around the energy maximum in the deuteron energy distribution make a considerable contribution to the efficiency of nuclear fusion compared with the ease of homonuelear deuterium clusters. With the intense laser irradiation, the nuclear fusion yield increases with the increase of the cluster size, so that deuterated heteronuelear clusters with larger sizes are required to achieve a greater neutron yield.     

静态真空对超声喷流气体团簇制备的实验研究

研究了靶室静态真空对超声喷流气体团簇产生和制备的影响.通过瑞利散射方法测量了不同静态真空度下超声喷流氩团簇的尺度和密度参数,发现在喷嘴出口附近团簇尺度和密度受静态真空度的影响较小;在距离喷嘴较远处,氩气团簇存在同氢气团簇类似的自限制效应,验证了自限制效应在团簇制备、输运过程中的重要作用.该结果对于建造基于激光聚变原理的桌面中子源具有较大的参考意义,可据此简化真空装置以降低运行和维护成本.     

超声喷流氩氢混合团簇特性研究

利用瑞利散射方法研究了超声喷流Ar-CH4混合团簇和超声喷流Ar-H2混合团簇的特性.通过测量不同混合比例和不同背压下所形成混合团簇的散射信号发现,当用Ar气和CH4的混合气体进行超声喷流时很容易形成Ar-CH4混合团簇,当Ar气含量为50%时混合团簇尺度最大且大于相同气压下纯Ar团簇尺度和纯CH4团簇尺度.实验发现,与纯H2团簇只能在低温条件下获得不同,常温下即可形成Ar-H2混合团簇,实现了常温下含氢团簇的获取,从而有效降低了制备成本.在H2含量大于40%时混合团簇开始形成并在60%时达到最大尺度.含氢(氘)混合团簇在氢(氘)团簇的基础上引入了更重的异核Ar元素,在激光氘团簇聚变实验中它将进一步加速氘离子从而获得更高的能量,并具有更高的中子产额和聚变效率.     

Interaction of intense laser pulses with hydrogen atomic clusters

The interaction between intense femtosecond laser pulses and hydrogen atomic clusters is studied by a simplified Coulomb explosion model. The dependences of average proton kinetic energy on cluster size, pulse duration, laser intensity and wavelength are studied respectively. The calculated results indicate that the irradiation of a femtosecond laser of longer wavelength on hydrogen atomic clusters may be a simple, economical way to produce highly kinetic hydrogen ions. The phenomenon suggests that the irradiation of femtosecond laser of longer wavelength on deuterium atomic clusters may be easier than that of shorter wavelength to drive nuclear fusion reactions. The product of the laser intensity and the squared laser wavelength needed to make proton energy saturated as a function of the squared cluster radius is also investigated. The proton energy distribution calculated is also shown and compared with the experimental data. Our results are in agreement with the experimental results fairly well.     

利用气泡探测器测量激光快中子

在利用超强激光驱动中子源的研究和应用研究中,中子源的产额及其角分布至关重要.我们在星光Ⅲ号激光装置上采用气泡探测器对强激光驱动的中子源的产额及其角分布进行了测量.利用超强皮秒激光与碳氘薄膜靶相互作用产生高能氘离子束撞击次级碳氘靶,通过氘-氘核反应产生准单能快中子.实验发现中子束的发射具有一定的方向性,在入射氘离子的传输方向上中子束具有更高的强度,测量得到的中子束最大强度为5.13×10⁷ n/sr.利用实验测量的氘离子能谱和角分布对中子束角分布进行了理论计算,结果与实验测量基本一致.     

强激光场中氘团簇的离子能谱与团簇尺度

在SILEX-Ⅰ装置上进行了超短超强激光与氘团簇相互作用的实验。采用法拉第筒测量了激光与氘团簇靶相互作用后发射出的氘离子能谱,并根据氘离子能谱计算出氘团簇的尺寸和分布。由于激光预脉冲的影响,得到了团簇的尺度比瑞利散射测量的结果小。这些结果对团簇源制备系统的改进和优化激光打靶有着重要的参考意义,而且可以为团簇尺度的测量提供一种新的方法。     

Thermonuclear fusion in a strong laser field

Thermonuclear fusion induced by the irradiation of solid deuterated cluster targets and foils with fields of strong femtosecond and picosecond laser pulses is discussed. The thermonuclear-fusion process D(d, n)³He in a collision of two deuterons at an energy of 50 to 100 keV in a deuterium cluster target irradiated with a strong laser pulse is discussed. A theory of thermonuclear fusion proceeding upon the irradiation of clusters formed by deuterium iodide (DI) molecules with the field of a superintense femtosecond laser pulse is developed. This theory is based on an above-barrier process in which the sequential multiple inner ionization of atomic ions within a cluster is accompanied by field-induced outer ionization. The yield of neutrons from thermonuclear fusion in a deuteron-deuteron collision after the completion of a laser pulse is calculated. The yield of neutrons is determined for the thermonuclear-fusion reaction proceeding in the interaction of an intense picosecond laser pulse with thin TiD₂ foils. A multiple ionization of titanium atoms at the front edge of the laser pulse is considered. The heating of free electron occurs in induced inverse bremsstrahlung in the process of electron scattering on multiply charged titanium ions. The yield of alpha particles in the thermonuclear-fusion reaction involving protons and ¹¹B nuclei that is induced in microdrops by a strong laser field is determined. Experimental data on laser-induced thermonuclear fusion are discussed.     

氘代乙烷团簇库仑爆炸产生高能氘核和中子的研究

采用简化库仑爆炸模型对强激光脉冲照射氘代乙烷团簇发生的库仑爆炸过程进行数值模拟,研究了氘代乙烷团簇爆炸产生的氘核动能、中子产额与团簇尺寸的关系,且与氘代甲烷团簇产生的氘核动能及中子产额进行了比较.研究表明,尺寸为5 nm的氘代乙烷团簇在发生库仑爆炸后氘核的最大动能为20.96 keV,获得的中子产额为6.31×105,比同尺寸氘代甲烷团簇产生的氘核最大动能及中子产额更大.因此相对于氘代甲烷团簇,大尺寸的氘代乙烷团簇更适合作为激光驱动团簇库仑爆炸获得高额中子的靶材,这与报道的实验推论相一致.     

Nuclear fusion driven by coulomb explosions of large deuterium clusters

Recent experiments on the interaction of intense, ultrafast laser pulses with large van der Waals bonded clusters have shown that these clusters can explode with substantial kinetic energy. By driving explosions in deuterium clusters with a 35 fs laser pulse, we have accelerated ions to sufficient kinetic energy to produce DD nuclear fusion. By diagnosing the fusion yield through measurements of 2.45 MeV fusion neutrons, we have found that the fusion yield from these exploding clusters varies strongly with the cluster size, consistent with acceleration of deuterons via Coulomb explosion forces.     

强激光场中氘团簇双重膨胀引发核聚变

在超强fs激光与氘团簇的相互作用中, 分析了可以引发核聚变的高能氘核产生的原因,提出了团簇双重膨胀的机制,计算了氘核动能及团簇解体的时间, 为选取合适的激光脉冲宽度参数提供参考. Considering the Coulomb explosion induced by the interaction of a deuterium cluster target with ultra intensity femtosecond laser,the causation which generate energetic deuterium nuclei for the fusion has been analyzed. The mechanism for the dual explosion of deuterium cluster is proposed, and hence the velocity of deuterium nuclei and the expansion time of deuterium ion clusters have been estimated.     

Heating of deuterium clusters by a superatomic ultra-short laser pulse

The mechanisms of heating of the electronic component of large deuterium clusters by a super-atomic ultra-short laser pulse field are considered. During pulse rise, the so-called “vacuum heating” plays the determining role. Electrons escaping from a cluster into the vacuum with a low energy return back in a time equal to the period of the laser under laser field action. The returning electrons have a higher energy (on the order of the vibrational energy in the laser radiation field), which causes cluster heating. As the laser field increases, the electronic temperature largely grows at the expense of decreasing the Coulomb potential energy of electron repulsion because of a decrease in the number of electrons. The dynamics of above-barrier cluster ionization at the leading edge of a superatomic laser pulse is calculated. The results are discussed in the light of recent experiments aimed at creating desktop sources of monoenergetic neutrons formed as a result of the fusion of deuterium nuclei in a cluster plasma.     

基于飞秒激光微加工的介质膜损伤修复研究

针对波长1053 nm, 0°高反介质膜元件, 采用有限时域差分法, 模拟分析了损伤修复点边缘与法线的夹角对膜层内电场强度分布的影响, 该角度越小, 修复点的损伤阈值越高. 通过优化飞秒激光微加工过程中的焦斑尺寸、脉冲能量、扫描步长和扫描次数等参数, 获得了夹角为25°、深度为14 μm的修复点. 该修复点典型的损伤阈值为21 J/cm², 是修复前的2.3倍, 50个修复点的测试结果表明该修复参数具有非常好的可重复性. 修复点的测试结果还验证了修复点边缘与法线的夹角大小与其损伤阈值的关系, 45°的电场强度最大值约为25°的2.5倍, 而45°的损伤阈值约为25°的1/2, 模拟和实验结果一致性较好. 同时, 实验验证了微加工的激光脉宽对修复点损伤阈值的影响, 在只改变脉宽的情况下, 脉宽越长, 损伤阈值越低.     

Nuclear fusion from Coulomb explosions of deuterated methane clusters subjected to ultraintense femtosecond laser pulses

This paper reports that Coulomb explosions taken place in the experiment of heteronuclear deuterated methane clusters ((CD₄)₂) in a gas jet subjected to intense femtosecond laser pulses (170mJ, 70fs) have led to table-top laser driven DD nuclear fusion. The clusters produced in supersonic expansion had an average size of about 5nm in radius and the laser intensity used was 3×10¹⁷W/cm².The measured maximum and average energies of deuterons produced in the laser--cluster interaction were 60 and 13.5keV, respectively. From DD collisions of energetic deuterons, a yield of 2.5(±0.4)×10⁴ fusion neutrons of 2.45MeV per shot was realized, giving rise to a neutron production efficiency of about 1.5×10⁵ per joule of incident laser pulse energy. Theoretical calculations were performed and a fairly good agreement of the calculated neutron yield with that obtained from the present experiment was found.     

Solid state effects during deuterium implantation into copper and titanium

Results of neutron counting experiments during deuterium implantation into titanium and copper are reported. Models for neutron yield have been developed by taking into account different solid state effects like energy degradation of incident ions, energy dependent d-d fusion cross section and diffusion of implanted deuterium possibly influenced by surface desorption and formation of metal deuterides. The asymptotic time dependence of the neutron yield during implantation has been compared with the experimental results. Using these results, solid state processes that might occur during deuterium implantation into these metals are inferred.     

飞秒激光氘团簇库仑爆炸引发核聚变的机理研究

在超强飞秒激光与氘团簇的相互作用中，利用库仑爆炸模型，分析了可以引发核聚变的高能氘核产生的机理，提出了氘离子团簇膨胀尺寸与时间的关系式，计算了多种尺寸的氘团簇库仑爆炸时氘核的动能以及氘团簇的解体时间． 关键词： 飞秒强激光 氘团簇 库仑爆炸 核聚变     

Thermonuclear fusion in the irradiation of large clusters of deuterium iodide with a field of a superatomic femtosecond laser pulse

A theory of thermonuclear fusion caused by the irradiation of deuterium-iodide clusters with the field of a superatomic femtosecond laser pulse is developed. It is based on considering the process in which the sequential above-barrier multiple internal ionization of atomic ions within a cluster is accompanied by external field ionization. The theory is illustrated by taking the example of a cluster that is formed by 10⁶ molecules of deuterium iodide and which is irradiated with a laser pulse of duration 50 fs and intensity 2×10¹⁸ W/cm² at the peak. This case is dominated by I²⁶⁺ atomic ions. The yield of neutrons from thermonuclear fusion in a deuteron-deuteron collision upon the passage of a laser pulse is calculated. The result is 10⁵ neutrons per laser pulse. The mean kinetic energy of deuterons is estimated at 50 keV. Owing to induced inverse bremsstrahlung in scattering on multiply charged atomic ions, the electron temperature increases up to 28 keV. The role of the Mie resonance in the heating of the electron component is discussed.