High Yield of Alpha Particles Generated in Proton-Boron Nuclear Fusion Reactions Induced in Solid Boron Hydride B${}_{18}$H${}_{22}$

M. Krůs; M. Ehn; M. Kozlová; J. Bould; P. Pokorný; P. Gajdoš; R. Dudžák; O. Renner; M. Guldan; M. Myška; L. Škoda; M. G. S. Londesborough

arXiv · 2407.06729

High Yield of Alpha Particles Generated in Proton-Boron Nuclear Fusion Reactions Induced in Solid Boron Hydride B${}_{18}$H${}_{22}$

M. Krůs·M. Ehn·M. Kozlová·J. Bould·P. Pokorný·P. Gajdoš·R. Dudžák·O. Renner·M. Guldan·M. Myška·L. Škoda·M. G. S. Londesborough

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Abstract

The use of solid boron hydride molecules as a fuel for proton-boron fusion was proposed by M. Kr\r{u}s and M. Londesborough at "Interaction of Inorganic Clusters, Cages, and Containers with Light" workshop in November 2021. Here we demonstrate experimentally, for first time, that the solid boron hydride, octadecaborane - \textit{anti}-B${}_{18}$H${}_{22}$, produces a relatively high yield of alpha particles of about $10^9$ per steradian using a sub-nanosecond, low-contrast laser pulse (PALS) with a typical intensity of $10^{16}$ Wcm${}^{-2}$. In contrast to previously published proton-boron studies, the boron hydrides, due to their composition containing only atoms of boron and hydrogen, represent a natural choice for future proton-boron nuclear fusion schemes.

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M. Krůs, M. Ehn, M. Kozlová, J. Bould, P. Pokorný, P. Gajdoš, R. Dudžák, O. Renner, M. Guldan, M. Myška, L. Škoda, M. G. S. Londesborough. 2024-07-09. High Yield of Alpha Particles Generated in Proton-Boron Nuclear Fusion Reactions Induced in Solid Boron Hydride B${}_{18}$H${}_{22}$. https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.06729

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