Neutron production from thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas

Abstract

The production of intense neutron beams via thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas is investigated theoretically. So far, state-of-the-art neutron beams are produced via laser-induced particle acceleration leading to high-energy particle beams that subsequently interact with a secondary target. Here, we show that neutron beams of two orders of magnitude narrower bandwidth can be obtained from thermonuclear reactions in plasmas generated by Petawatt-class lasers. The intensity of such neutron beams is about one or two orders of magnitude lower than the one of the state-of-the-art laser-driven neutron beams. We study to this end the reaction 2H(d, n)3He in plasmas generated by Petawatt-class lasers interacting with D2 gas jet targets and CD2 solid-state targets. The results also show the possibility of direct measurements of reaction rates at low temperatures of astrophysical interest. In addition, the use of CD2 solid-state targets can also lead to great enhancements of the plasma screening compared to the case of D2 gas jet targets, opening new possibilities to study this so far unsolved issue in the field of astrophysics.