Calibration of CR-39 solid-state track detectors for study of laser-driven nuclear reactions

Abstract

It is of particular interest to investigate nuclear fusion reactions generated by high-intensity lasers in plasma environments that are similar to real astrophysical conditions. We have experimentally investigated $$^2 \hbox {H}({d},{p})^3 \hbox {H}$$, one of the most crucial reactions in big bang nucleosynthesis models, at the Shenguang-II laser facility. In this work, we present a new calibration of CR-39 solid-state track detectors, which are widely employed as the main diagnostics in this type of fusion reaction experiment. We measure the dependence of the track diameter on the proton energy. It is found that the track diameters of protons with different energies are likely to be identical. We propose that in this case, the energy of the reaction products can be obtained by considering both the diameters and gray levels of these tracks. The present results would be very helpful for analyzing the $$^2 \hbox {H}(d,p)^3 \hbox {H}$$ reaction products recorded with the same batch of CR-39 solid-state track detectors.