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1.
Sci Rep ; 6: 21202, 2016 Feb 17.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26882988

ABSTRACT

Nuclear reactions initiated by laser-accelerated particle beams are a promising new approach to many applications, from medical radioisotopes to aneutronic energy production. We present results demonstrating the occurrence of secondary nuclear reactions, initiated by the primary nuclear reaction products, using multicomponent targets composed of either natural boron (B) or natural boron nitride (BN). The primary proton-boron reaction (p + (11)B → 3 α + 8.7 MeV), is one of the most attractive aneutronic fusion reaction. We report radioactive decay signatures in targets irradiated at the Elfie laser facility by laser-accelerated particle beams which we interpret as due to secondary reactions induced by alpha (α) particles produced in the primary reactions. Use of a second nanosecond laser beam, adequately synchronized with the short laser pulse to produce a plasma target, further enhanced the reaction rates. High rates and chains of reactions are essential for most applications.

2.
Rev Sci Instrum ; 86(8): 083307, 2015 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26329181

ABSTRACT

Laser-accelerated ion beams can be used in many applications and, especially, to initiate nuclear reactions out of thermal equilibrium. We have experimentally studied aneutronic fusion reactions induced by protons accelerated by the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration mechanism, colliding with a boron target. Such experiments require a rigorous method to identify the reaction products (alpha particles) collected in detectors among a few other ion species such as protons or carbon ions, for example. CR-39 track detectors are widely used because they are mostly sensitive to ions and their efficiency is near 100%. We present a complete calibration of CR-39 track detector for protons, alpha particles, and carbon ions. We give measurements of their track diameters for energy ranging from hundreds of keV to a few MeV and for etching times between 1 and 8 h. We used these results to identify alpha particles in our experiments on proton-boron fusion reactions initiated by laser-accelerated protons. We show that their number clearly increases when the boron fuel is preformed in a plasma state.

3.
Nat Commun ; 5: 4158, 2014 Jun 18.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24938756

ABSTRACT

Stimulated Raman backscattering (SRS) has many unwanted effects in megajoule-scale inertially confined fusion (ICF) plasmas. Moreover, attempts to harness SRS to amplify short laser pulses through backward Raman amplification have achieved limited success. In high-temperature fusion plasmas, SRS usually occurs in a kinetic regime where the nonlinear response of the Langmuir wave to the laser drive and its host of complicating factors make it difficult to predict the degree of amplification that can be achieved under given experimental conditions. Here we present experimental evidence of reduced Landau damping with increasing Langmuir wave amplitude and determine its effects on Raman amplification. The threshold for trapping effects to influence the amplification is shown to be very low. Above threshold, the complex SRS dynamics results in increased amplification factors, which partly explains previous ICF experiments. These insights could aid the development of more efficient backward Raman amplification schemes in this regime.

4.
Nat Commun ; 4: 2506, 2013.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24104859

ABSTRACT

The advent of high-intensity-pulsed laser technology enables the generation of extreme states of matter under conditions that are far from thermal equilibrium. This in turn could enable different approaches to generating energy from nuclear fusion. Relaxing the equilibrium requirement could widen the range of isotopes used in fusion fuels permitting cleaner and less hazardous reactions that do not produce high-energy neutrons. Here we propose and implement a means to drive fusion reactions between protons and boron-11 nuclei by colliding a laser-accelerated proton beam with a laser-generated boron plasma. We report proton-boron reaction rates that are orders of magnitude higher than those reported previously. Beyond fusion, our approach demonstrates a new means for exploring low-energy nuclear reactions such as those that occur in astrophysical plasmas and related environments.

5.
Phys Rev Lett ; 111(23): 235006, 2013 Dec 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-24476284

ABSTRACT

An experimental program was designed to study the most important issues of laser-plasma interaction physics in the context of the shock ignition scheme. In the new experiments presented in this Letter, a combination of kilojoule and short laser pulses was used to study the laser-plasma coupling at high laser intensities for a large range of electron densities and plasma profiles. We find that the backscatter is dominated by stimulated Brillouin scattering with stimulated Raman scattering staying at a limited level. This is in agreement with past experiments using long pulses but laser intensities limited to 2×10(15) W/cm2, or short pulses with intensities up to 5×10(16) W/cm2 as well as with 2D particle-in-cell simulations.

6.
Phys Rev Lett ; 109(25): 255002, 2012 Dec 21.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23368474

ABSTRACT

We present experimental and numerical results on intense-laser-pulse-produced fast electron beams transport through aluminum samples, either solid or compressed and heated by laser-induced planar shock propagation. Thanks to absolute K(α) yield measurements and its very good agreement with results from numerical simulations, we quantify the collisional and resistive fast electron stopping powers: for electron current densities of ≈ 8 × 10(10) A/cm(2) they reach 1.5 keV/µm and 0.8 keV/µm, respectively. For higher current densities up to 10(12)A/cm(2), numerical simulations show resistive and collisional energy losses at comparable levels. Analytical estimations predict the resistive stopping power will be kept on the level of 1 keV/µm for electron current densities of 10(14)A/cm(2), representative of the full-scale conditions in the fast ignition of inertially confined fusion targets.

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