Symbiotic Fusion Through Single-Crystal Li 6 D

Abstract

A symbiotic fusion scheme is introduced. In the first phase of the process, a low-density current of deuterons propagates in a circular tunnel in the interior of a block of single-crystal Li6D with cubic crystal structure. Energy of the deuterons is limited by the condition that they not be neutralized by collisions with the tunnel wall. Deuteron current is driven through a rapidly rising magnetic field normal to the plane of the loop. Because of the coupling of the beam to the periodic array of molecules in the host, the beam goes into extended states. At the critical temperature (Tc ≈ 9.07 K) it becomes superconducting and with sufficient wave function overlap in this phase, it is proposed that fusion takes place. A superconducting product wave function is given by Gaussian space components and spin-1 functions polarized in the direction of the applied magnetic field. The Landau—Ginzberg equation is employed to calculate the coherence length for this process which is found to be of the order of the spread of the Gaussian per period of the wave function. This value of coherence length is consistent with significant wavefunction overlap. In the second phase, for a cubic fuel sample of edge length 15 cm, emitted particles interact with the host nuclei in a chain reaction. Assuming a probability of 0.01 that deuterons in the superconducting loop fuse, in 1 ms the device produces a yield ≈ 0.2 GJ. Injection and magnetic rise-time intervals are described and the interval over which the beam goessimultaneously to a superconducting phase from an extended state that fills the current tube. A model is described for this process that gives a criterion for the onset of fusion. A study of deuteron interaction in the superconducting state leads to a requirement for the tensile strength of the tunnel material. Another study derives the property that the Coulomb singularity between deuterons is reduced in the superconducting phase.