<title>Evolution of deuterium clusters irradiated by super-intense ultra-short laser pulses</title>

Abstract

A SiO2 aerogel with absorbed deuterium is suggested as a target for the fusion reaction d + d yields He3 + n by a super-intense ultra-short laser pulse. The multiple inner ionization of oxygen and silicon atoms in the fibers of this fractal aerogel takes place in super-intense laser field. The Coulomb explosion of the deuterated aerogel skeleton propels deuterons up to kinetic energies of ten keV and higher. The neutron yield is estimated up to 105 neutrons per laser pulse during approximately 500 ps if the peak intensity is 1018 W/cm2 and pulse duration is 35 fs.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.