Model-independent determination of the astrophysical S factor in laser-induced fusion plasmas

Lattuada, D.; Barbarino, M.; Bonasera, A.; Bang, W.; Quevedo, H. J.; Warren, M.; Consoli, F.; De Angelis, R.; Andreoli, P.; Kimura, S.; Dyer, G.; Bernstein, A. C.; Hagel, K.; Barbui, M.; Schmidt, K.; Gaul, E.; Donovan, M. E.; Natowitz, J. B.; Ditmire, T.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.93.045808

Model-independent determination of the astrophysical $S$ factor in laser-induced fusion plasmas

Journal Article · Tue Apr 19 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physical Review C

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.93.045808· OSTI ID:1255278

Lattuada, D. ^[1]; Barbarino, M. ^[2]; Bonasera, A. ^[3]; Bang, W. ^[4]; Quevedo, H. J. ^[5]; Warren, M. ^[6]; Consoli, F. ^[7]; De Angelis, R. ^[7]; Andreoli, P. ^[7]; Kimura, S. ^[8]; Dyer, G. ^[5]; Bernstein, A. C. ^[5]; Hagel, K. ^[2]; Barbui, M. ^[2]; Schmidt, K. ^[9]; Gaul, E. ^[5]; Donovan, M. E. ^[5]; Natowitz, J. B. ^[2]; Ditmire, T. ^[5]

Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Univ. degli studi di Enna "Kore", Enna (Italy); LNS-INFN, Catania (Italy)
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); LNS-INFN, Catania (Italy)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States)
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Univ. of Dallas, Irving, TX (United States)
Associazione Euratom-ENEA sulla Fusione, Rome (Italy)
Univ. of Milano, Milano (Italy)
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Univ. of Silesia, Katowice (Poland)

In this paper, we present a new and general method for measuring the astrophysical S factor of nuclear reactions in laser-induced plasmas and we apply it to ²H(d,n)³He. The experiment was performed with the Texas Petawatt Laser, which delivered 150–270 fs pulses of energy ranging from 90 to 180 J to D₂ or CD₄ molecular clusters (where D denotes ²H). After removing the background noise, we used the measured time-of-flight data of energetic deuterium ions to obtain their energy distribution. We derive the S factor using the measured energy distribution of the ions, the measured volume of the fusion plasma, and the measured fusion yields. This method is model independent in the sense that no assumption on the state of the system is required, but it requires an accurate measurement of the ion energy distribution, especially at high energies, and of the relevant fusion yields. In the ²H(d,n)³He and ³He(d,p)⁴He cases discussed here, it is very important to apply the background subtraction for the energetic ions and to measure the fusion yields with high precision. While the available data on both ion distribution and fusion yields allow us to determine with good precision the S factor in the d+d case (lower Gamow energies), for the d+³He case the data are not precise enough to obtain the S factor using this method. Our results agree with other experiments within the experimental error, even though smaller values of the S factor were obtained. This might be due to the plasma environment differing from the beam target conditions in a conventional accelerator experiment.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396; FC52-08NA28512; FG03-93ER40773

OSTI ID:: 1255278

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1248069

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-16-20264

Journal Information:: Physical Review C, Journal Name: Physical Review C Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 93; ISSN PRVCAN; ISSN 2469-9985

Publisher:: APSCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Demonstration of laser-produced neutron diagnostic by radiative capture gamma-rays Zhang, Xiaopeng; Wei, Wenqing; Fu, Changbo Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 89, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5019228	journal	February 2018
Demonstration of Laser-produced Neutron Diagnostic by Radiative Capture Gamma-rays Zhang, Xiaopeng; Wei, Wenqing; Fu, Changbo arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1709.06561	text	January 2017

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70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
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