摘要
We present detailed characterization of laser-driven fusion and neutron production(-10^(5)/second) using 8 mJ, 40 fs laser pulses on a thin(<1 μm) D_2O liquid sheet employing a measurement suite. At relativistic intensity(~ 5 × 10^(18)W/cm^(2))and high repetition rate(1 kHz), the system produces deuterium±deuterium(D-D) fusion, allowing for consistent neutron generation. Evidence of D-D fusion neutron production is verified by a measurement suite with three independent detection systems: an EJ-309 organic scintillator with pulse-shape discrimination, a ~3He proportional counter and a set of 36 bubble detectors. Time-of-flight analysis of the scintillator data shows the energy of the produced neutrons to be consistent with 2.45 MeV. Particle-in-cell simulations using the WarpX code support significant neutron production from D-D fusion events in the laser±target interaction region. This high-repetition-rate laser-driven neutron source could provide a low-cost, on-demand test bed for radiation hardening and imaging applications.
基金
supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research(AFOSR)Award number 23AFCOR004(PM:Dr.Andrew B.Stickrath)
partially supported by DTRANSREC Award number HDTRA-1343332。
