Cryogenic solid deuterium target formation to realize highly pure deuteron acceleration by high-intensity laser

Abstract

In recent years, laser driven neutron sources (LDNSs) have attracted the attention for their applications such as nondestructive analysis and production of medical radioisotopes. One of the efficient neutron production methods is the use of the 9Be(d, n)10B reaction on a beryllium target with deuterons accelerated by laser-plasma interactions because this is an exothermic reaction. For efficient deuteron acceleration, we have developed a formation system for solid deuterium targets. A millimeter thick solid deuterium target can be formed with the system. Before laser shot, the solid deuterium target in the laser chamber can be mechanically moved to the laser irradiation point. We have demonstrated deuteron acceleration by the LFEX laser, and a highly-pure deuteron pulse with energies of up to 6.2MeV was measured with a Thomson parabola ion spectrometer.