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P: Plasmaphysik

P 15: Schwerionen-, Laserplasmen

P 15.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 20, 2002, 16:05–16:20, HZO 60

Laser-Induced Deuteron Fusion in Aerogels — •Mikhail Smirnov¹ and Vladimir P. Krainov² — ¹Max-Born-Institut, Berlin — ²MIPT, Moscow Region, Russia

A SiO₂ aerogel with absorbed deuterium is suggested as a target for the fusion reaction d+d→ He³+n by a super-intense ultra-short laser pulse. Multiple inner ionization of oxygen and silicon atoms in the elementary fibers of this fractal aerogel takes place in the super-intense laser field. The free electrons generated by inner ionization are removed from the aerogel skeleton by the laser field at the leading edge of the laser pulse. The subsequent Coulomb explosion of the deuterated aerogel skeleton propels deuterons up to kinetic energies of ten keV and higher. The neutron yield is estimated at up to 10⁶ neutrons per laser pulse during ∼ 200÷ 500 ps if the peak intensity is 10¹⁸ W/cm² and the pulse duration is 35 fs.

This work is supported in part by the AvH Foundation.