High-current stream of energetic α particles from laser-driven proton-boron fusion

Lorenzo Giuffrida, Fabio Belloni, Daniele Margarone, Giada Petringa, Giuliana Milluzzo, Valentina Scuderi, Andriy Velyhan, Marcin Rosinski, Antonino Picciotto, Milan Kucharik, Jan Dostal, Roman Dudzak, Josef Krasa, Valeria Istokskaia, Roberto Catalano, Salvatore Tudisco, Claudio Verona, Karel Jungwirth, Pierluigi Bellutti, Georg Korn, and G. A. P. Cirrone
Phys. Rev. E 101, 013204 – Published 21 January 2020

Abstract

The nuclear reaction known as proton-boron fusion has been triggered by a subnanosecond laser system focused onto a thick boron nitride target at modest laser intensity (1016W/cm2), resulting in a record yield of generated α particles. The estimated value of α particles emitted per laser pulse is around 1011, thus orders of magnitude higher than any other experimental result previously reported. The accelerated α-particle stream shows unique features in terms of kinetic energy (up to 10 MeV), pulse duration (∼10 ns), and peak current (∼2 A) at 1 m from the source, promising potential applications of such neutronless nuclear fusion reactions. We have used a beam-driven fusion scheme to explain the total number of α particles generated in the nuclear reaction. In this model, protons accelerated inside the plasma, moving forward into the bulk of the target, can interact with B11 atoms, thus efficiently triggering fusion reactions. An overview of literature results obtained with different laser parameters, experimental setups, and target compositions is reported and discussed.

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  • Received 16 August 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.101.013204

©2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Plasma PhysicsNuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Lorenzo Giuffrida1,*, Fabio Belloni2, Daniele Margarone1, Giada Petringa3, Giuliana Milluzzo3,†, Valentina Scuderi1,3, Andriy Velyhan1, Marcin Rosinski4, Antonino Picciotto5, Milan Kucharik6, Jan Dostal7,8, Roman Dudzak7,8, Josef Krasa8, Valeria Istokskaia1,6, Roberto Catalano3, Salvatore Tudisco3, Claudio Verona9, Karel Jungwirth8, Pierluigi Bellutti5, Georg Korn1, and G. A. P. Cirrone1,3

  • 1Institute of Physics ASCR, v.v.i (FZU), ELI-Beamlines, 182 21, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 2European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Euratom Research, Brussels, Belgium
  • 3Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Catania, Italy
  • 4Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, 01-497 Warsaw, Poland
  • 5Micro-Nano Facility, Center for Materials and Microsystems, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy
  • 6Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, 115 19 Prague, Czech Republic
  • 7Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 8, 182 00 Czech Republic
  • 8Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague 8, 182 21 Czech Republic
  • 9INFN–Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università di Roma ‘Tor Vergata,’ Rome, Italy

  • *Corresponding author: lorenzo.giuffrida@eli-beams.eu
  • Present address: Centre for Plasma Physics, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United Kingdom.

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Vol. 101, Iss. 1 — January 2020

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