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Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 065005 (2002) [4 pages]

Deuterium-Deuterium Fusion Dynamics in Low-Density Molecular-Cluster Jets Irradiated by Intense Ultrafast Laser Pulses
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G. Grillon1, Ph. Balcou1, J.- P. Chambaret1, D. Hulin1, J. Martino2, S. Moustaizis3,4, L. Notebaert1, M. Pittman1, Th. Pussieux2, A. Rousse1, J- Ph. Rousseau1, S. Sebban1, O. Sublemontier5, and M. Schmidt5
1Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée, ENSTA-Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS UMR 7639, F-91761 Palaiseau Cedex, France
2CEA, DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
3Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, FORTH, P.O. Box 1527 GR. 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
4Material Structure and Laser Physics Laboratory, Technical University of Crete, P.O. Box 73100, Kounoupidiana-Campus, 73130 Chania, Crete, Greece
5CEA, DSM/DRECAM/SPAM, Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Saclay, Bâtiment 524, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

Received 9 July 2001; published 23 July 2002

Following the interaction of superintense, short pulse lasers and plasmas, ions can be accelerated to velocities sufficient to drive nuclear fusion reactions, in particular, by the process of Coulomb explosion of clusters [T. Ditmire et al., Nature (London) 398, 491 (1999)]. We show here how short bursts of neutrons can be produced using a jet of low-density deuterated methane clusters. Ion velocity distributions were simultaneously measured by a Thomson parabola mass spectrometer, demonstrating deuteron energies up to 120 keV. We show that, in such conditions, nuclear fusion will occur not only in the hot plasma core, but also in the cold outer region by collision processes.


©2002 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v89/e065005
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.065005
PACS: 52.50.Jm, 36.40.Gk, 52.38.Ph

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