First demonstration of a triton beam using target normal sheath acceleration

Abstract

Tritiated titanium targets were irradiated by the short-pulse OMEGA EP laser (1.25 kJ, 10 ps) to generate a laser-accelerated pulsed beam of tritons by target normal sheath acceleration. Using a Thomson parabola, the beam was found to contain 1012 tritons per pulse, with a mean energy of 2.2 MeV and an exponential tail reaching up to 10 MeV. In a separate experiment, the triton beam was directed onto a secondary deuterated polyethylene (CD) target to induce deuterium–tritium (D–T) nuclear reactions. Using neutron time-of-flight spectrometers, approximately 108 D–T fusion neutrons were observed per laser pulse. This triton beam presents new research opportunities for the study of the 3H(t, 2n)4He reaction and di-neutron transfers to lithium and beryllium that may produce exotic neutron-rich nuclei of interest to basic nuclear science, astrophysics, and inertial confinement fusion technology.