Detailed characterization of kHz-rate laser-driven fusion at a thin liquid sheet with a neutron detection suite  

作　　者：Benjamin M.Knight Connor M.Gautam Colton R.Stoner Bryan V.Egner Joseph R.Smith Chris M.Orban Juan J.Manfredi Kyle D.Frische Michael L.Dexter Enam A.Chowdhury Anil K.Patnaik 

机构地区：[1]Department of Engineering Physics,Air Force Institute of Technology,WPAFB,OH,USA [2]Physics Department,Marietta College,Marietta,OH,USA [3]Department of Physics,The Ohio State University,Columbus,OH,USA [4]Department of Materials Science and Engineering,and Department of Electrical and Computer Science,The Ohio State University,Columbus,OH,USA [5]Intense Energy Solutions,LLC,Plain City,OH,USA

出　　处：《High Power Laser Science and Engineering》2024年第1期13-23,共11页高功率激光科学与工程（英文版）

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。

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.

关 键 词：high-repetition-rate laser-driven fusion laser-plasma interaction liquid target neutron detectors 

分 类 号：TL816.3[核科学技术—核技术及应用]