Role of laser-pulse duration in the neutron yield of deuterium cluster targets

Journal Article · Mon Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 2004 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.70.053201· OSTI ID:20646234

Madison, K W; Fitzpatrick, R; Ditmire, T ^[1]; Patel, P K; Price, D ^[2]; Allen, M ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)
2. Physics and Advanced Technology Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
3. Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

We present an experimental and computational study of the ion and fusion neutron yields from explosions of deuterium clusters irradiated with 100-TW laser pulses. We find that the cluster explosion energy and resultant fusion yield are sensitive to the laser pulse rise time as determined by the pulse duration for a fixed envelope shape. Our experimental observations are consistent with the results of particle simulations of the laser-cluster interaction which show that the explosion energies of the clusters are determined by a single parameter: the ratio of the cluster ionization time to its intrinsic expansion time. This competition of time scales sets a fundamental constraint on the ion emission and resultant neutron yield performance of these targets as a function of laser-pulse duration.

• OSTI ID: 20646234
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 70; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMIC CLUSTERS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DEUTERIUM
DEUTERIUM TARGET
EXPANSION
FUSION YIELD
ION EMISSION
IONIZATION
IONS
IRRADIATION
LASER RADIATION
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRONS
PERFORMANCE
PHOTON-MOLECULE COLLISIONS
PULSE RISE TIME
PULSES