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.     

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.     

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.     

Influence of laser frequency chirp on deuteron energy from laser-driven deuterated methane cluster expansion

The simulations of three-dimensional particle dynamics are carried out to investigate the Coulomb explosion dynamics of deuterated methane clusters under the irradiation of an ultrashort intense laser pulse. The final kinetic energy of deuterons produced from the cluster explosion is calculated as a function of the pulse width, the laser intensity and the pulse chirp. It is found that the deuteron energy obtained in an intense laser pulse with negative chirp is higher than that with positive chirp, which agrees qualitatively with the experimental results reported by Fukuda et al. [Y. Fukuda et al., Phys. Rev. A 67, 061201 (2003)].     

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。     

(C60)N团簇稳定结构的遗传算法研究

采用Pacheco-Ramalho相互作用势,结合改进的遗传算法研究了(C60)N团簇(N=3～25)的稳定结构与“幻数“序列,并研究了(C60)N 团簇的势能变化.结果表明:团簇的稳定结构与构成团簇的C60分子数目有密切的关系.随着C60分子数目的增大,团簇的稳态结构呈现出由层状变为壳状,然后又转变为层状结构的变化趋势.随着组成C60分子数的增多,团簇中分子的平均势能呈下降的趋势,下降的幅度随着分子数的增大而越来越小.     

飞秒强激光脉冲中氩团簇库仑爆炸特性研究

利用Bathe模型，理论模拟了氩团簇在飞秒强激光中(100 fs, 1016 W/cm2)的电离和爆炸过程.研究结果显示，在团簇尺寸较小时，离子平均能量与团簇初始半径平方成正比，爆炸机制为典型的库仑爆炸.随着团簇尺寸的增加，能量增加的速度趋缓并在一定团簇尺寸后趋于饱和.模拟结果与实验数据有较好的吻合.     

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.     

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     

Study on the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with nanometre-sized hydrogen clusters

The interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with hydrogen clusters has been experimentally studied. The hydrogen clusters were produced from expansion of high-pressure hydrogen gas (backed up to 8\tm10⁶Pa) into vacuum through a conical nozzle cryogenically cooled by liquid nitrogen. The average size of hydrogen clusters was estimated by Rayleigh scattering measurement and the maximum proton energy of up to 4.2keV has been obtained from the Coulomb explosion of hydrogen clusters under 2×10¹⁶ W/cm² laser irradiation. Dependence of the maximum proton energy on cluster size and laser intensity was investigated, indicating the correlation between the laser intensity and the cluster size. The maximum proton energy is found to be directly proportional to the laser intensity, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction.     

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.     

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.     

Deuterium-deuterium fusion dynamics in low-density molecular-cluster jets irradiated by intense ultrafast laser pulses

Following the interaction of superintense, short pulse lasers and plasmas, ions can be accelerated to velocities sufficient to drive nuclear fusion reactions, in particular, by the process of Coulomb explosion of clusters [T. Ditmire, Nature (London) 398, 491 (1999)]]. We show here how short bursts of neutrons can be produced using a jet of low-density deuterated methane clusters. Ion velocity distributions were simultaneously measured by a Thomson parabola mass spectrometer, demonstrating deuteron energies up to 120 keV. We show that, in such conditions, nuclear fusion will occur not only in the hot plasma core, but also in the cold outer region by collision processes.     

Effect of laser spot size on fusion neutron yield in laser--deuterium cluster interactions

The effect of the laser spot size on the neutron yield of table-top nuclear fusion from explosions of a femtosecond intense laser pulse heated deuterium clusters is investigated by using a simplified model, in which the cluster size distribution and the energy attenuation of the laser as it propagates through the cluster jet are taken into account. It has been found that there exists a proper laser spot size for the maximum fusion neutron yield for a given laser pulse and a specific deuterium gas cluster jet. The proper spot size, which is dependent on the laser parameters and the cluster jet parameters, has been calculated and compared with the available experimental data. A reasonable agreement between the calculated results and the published experimental results is found.     

C20离子团簇在氧化物中穿行时库仑爆炸过程的理论研究

研究了C20团簇在几种金属氧化物(Al2O3,SiO2)中穿行时发生的库仑爆炸过程.采用线性介电响应理论,并结合Mermin形式的介电函数,得到了团簇中各组成离子的空间感应势,其中组成团簇中各组成离子的电荷分布情况由Brandt-Kitagawa有效电荷理论模型来描述.通过求解运动方程得到离子团结构随时间的演化过程,并采用Monte Carlo方法模拟了爆炸过程中的多重散射现象.我们发现,尾流效应使团簇的空间结构和电荷分布呈现非对称性.     

Neutron enhancement from laser interaction with a critical fluid

We discuss experimentally and theoretically neutron production from the laser driven explosion of gas clusters prepared near the liquid-gas critical point. We let deuterated methane that was prepared very close to its critical temperature and pressure expand through a conical nozzle to create clusters, and then irradiated those clusters with a high intensity pulse from the Texas Petawatt Laser. After ionization, the clusters explode producing energetic ions, some of which fuse with resultant neutron emission. We show that the critical fluctuations present in the nozzle before the expansion influence the dynamics of neutron production. Neutron production near the critical point follows a power law, which is a signature of a second order phase transition and it is consistent with the Fisher model. This result might be relevant for energy production from fusion reactions.     

dt nuclear fusion within a single Coulomb exploding composite nanodroplet

We present a computational study of dt fusion driven by Coulomb explosion within a single, large, heteronuclear two-component D₂/T₂nanodroplet, originating from kinematic overrun effects between deuterons and tritons. Scaled electron and ion dynamics simulations have been used to explore the size dependence and the isotopic composition dependence of the intra-nanodroplet (INTRA) dt fusion yield in a composite D_2n-2kT_2k nanodroplet, initially consisting of an inner sphere of D₂ molecules surrounded by an outer sphere of T₂ molecules (n = 1.4×10⁸–2.0×10⁹, k/n = 0.10–0.60, and initial radii R₀= 1100–2700 Å) driven by a single, ultraintense, near-infrared, Gaussian laser pulse (peak intensity 10²⁰ W?cm^-2, pulse length 25 fs). INTRA dt fusion in D_2n-2kT_2k nanodroplets with neutron yields of 30–90 (per nanodroplet, per laser pulse) were attained in the size domain R₀ = 2000–2700 Å with the optimal composition in the range of k/n = 0.2–0.4. INTRA yields in D_2n-2kT_2k nanodroplets are similar (within 20–40%) to those in initially homogeneous (DT)_n nanodroplets of the same size. These INTRA yields are sufficiently large to warrant experimental observation in a single nanodroplet. The INTRA dt fusion can be distinguished from the inter-nanodroplet dt fusion reaction, which occurs inside and outside the macroscopic plasma filament, by the nanodroplet size dependence of the yield and by the different energies of the neutrons produced in these two channels.     

Tabletop nucleosynthesis driven by cluster Coulomb explosion

Coulomb explosion of completely ionized (CH4)n, (NH3)n, and (H2O)n clusters will drive tabletop nuclear reactions of protons with 12C6+, 14N7+, and 16O8+ nuclei, extending the realm of nuclear reactions driven by ultraintense laser-heterocluster interaction. The realization for nucleosynthesis in exploding cluster beams requires complete electron stripping from the clusters (at laser intensities I(M) > or = 10(19) W cm(-2)), the utilization of nanodroplets of radius 300-700 A for vertical ionization, and the attainment of the highest energies for the nuclei (i.e., approximately 30 MeV for heavy nuclei and approximately 3 MeV for protons).     

Fast neutron production with 54 MeV deuterons

The yield of neutrons above 10 MeV produced by irradiating 14 elements with 54 MeV deuterons were determined. Energy spectra in the forward direction were measured with a time- of-flight technique. The angular distributions were measured with threshold detectors. The observed neutron spectra were compared with theoretical results for nuclear and Coulomb break-up of deuterons.