Proton-Boron Fusion Yield Increased by Orders of Magnitude with Foam Targets

Wen-Qing Wei; Shi-Zheng Zhang; Zhi-Gang Deng; Wei Qi; Hao Xu; Li-Rong Liu; Jia-Lin Zhang; Fang-Fang Li; Xing Xu; Zhong-Min Hu; Ben-Zheng Chen; Bu-Bo Ma; Jian-Xing Li; Xue-Guang Ren; Zhong-Feng Xu; Dieter H. H. Hoffmann; Quan-Ping Fan; Wei-Wu Wang; Shao-Yi Wang; Jian Teng; Bo Cui; Feng Lu; Lei Yang; Yu-Qiu Gu; Zong-Qing Zhao; Rui Cheng; Zhao Wang; Yu Lei; Guo-Qing Xiao; Hong-Wei Zhao; Bing Liu; Guan-Chao Zhao; Min-Sheng Liu; Hua-Sheng Xie; Lei-Feng Cao; Jie-Ru Ren; Wei-Min Zhou; Yong-Tao Zhao

arXiv · 2308.10878

Proton-Boron Fusion Yield Increased by Orders of Magnitude with Foam Targets

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Abstract

A novel intense beam-driven scheme for high yield of the tri-alpha reaction 11B(p,{\alpha})2{\alpha} was investigated. We used a foam target made of cellulose triacetate (TAC, C_9H_{16}O_8) doped with boron. It was then heated volumetrically by soft X-ray radiation from a laser heated hohlraum and turned into a homogenous, and long living plasma. We employed a picosecond laser pulse to generate a high-intensity energetic proton beam via the well-known Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism. We observed up to 10^{10}/sr {\alpha} particles per laser shot. This constitutes presently the highest yield value normalized to the laser energy on target. The measured fusion yield per proton exceeds the classical expectation of beam-target reactions by up to four orders of magnitude under high proton intensities. This enhancement is attributed to the strong electric fields and nonequilibrium thermonuclear fusion reactions as a result of the new method. Our approach shows opportunities to pursue ignition of aneutronic fusion.

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Wen-Qing Wei, Shi-Zheng Zhang, Zhi-Gang Deng, Wei Qi, Hao Xu, Li-Rong Liu, Jia-Lin Zhang, Fang-Fang Li, Xing Xu, Zhong-Min Hu, Ben-Zheng Chen, Bu-Bo Ma, Jian-Xing Li, Xue-Guang Ren, Zhong-Feng Xu, Dieter H. H. Hoffmann, Quan-Ping Fan, Wei-Wu Wang, Shao-Yi Wang, Jian Teng, Bo Cui, Feng Lu, Lei Yang, Yu-Qiu Gu, Zong-Qing Zhao, Rui Cheng, Zhao Wang, Yu Lei, Guo-Qing Xiao, Hong-Wei Zhao, Bing Liu, Guan-Chao Zhao, Min-Sheng Liu, Hua-Sheng Xie, Lei-Feng Cao, Jie-Ru Ren, Wei-Min Zhou, Yong-Tao Zhao. 2023-08-21. Proton-Boron Fusion Yield Increased by Orders of Magnitude with Foam Targets. https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.10878

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