Industrial applications of laser neutron source

Abstract

The industrial applications of the intense neutrón source have been widely explored because of the unique features of the neutron-matter interaction. Usually, intense neutrón sources are assembled with fission reactors or high energy ion accelerators. The big size and high cost of these systems are the bottle neck to promote the industrial applications of intense neutrons. In this paper, we propose the compact láser driven neutrón source for the industrial application. As the first step of our project for the versatile applications of láser driven neutrón source, Li-neutron and/or Li-proton interactions have been investigated for the application to the development of Li battery.

Efficient and Repetitive Neutron Generation by Double-Laser-Pulse Driven Photonuclear Reaction

“…Although this type facility is more stable, controllable, and safe compared to the reactor, this facility is still large and expensive for the on-site nondestructive inspection application. The laser-based neutron source is receiving much attentions owing to its compactness, high peak intensity, and short pulse duration, despite the average neutron intensity being significantly lower than that obtained in the other facilities [4]. Repetitive neutron generation is essential for some applications that require not only high peak intensity but also high average flux of the neutron beam.…”

Laser Driven Neutron Sources: Characteristics, Applications and Prospects

“…Red squares, black squares, and red circle correspond to implosion experiment neutron yields for LHART (Large High Aspect Ratio Target) [Yamanaka 1986], exploding pusher target [Storm 1978], and NIF indirect drive [Lindl 1998], respectively. Small black circles are for the cluster fusion by using JanUSP [Madison 2003] (This figure is an update of the figures presented in previous papers by one of the authors [Nakai 2008, Nakai 2010). …”

“…In particular, some possible applications of laser neutron sources were already identified in previous reports by some of the authors [Nakai 2008, Nakai 2010] . These reports have mentioned the use of neutrons in probing energy storage systems like Li-ion batteries and fuel cells, in nuclear energetics (fission and fusion reactor materials), in medical therapy like BNCT cancer therapy, and as a new tool in diagnostics, especially in measurements of light elements.…”

A Simple Multi-Pass Side-Pumping Scheme for Solar Powered Lasers

“…The conversion of broadband sunlight into laser light by direct or indirect solar pumping is of potential importance because the laser light is a narrowband, collimated and easy to control radiation with the possibility of obtaining extremely high intensity. The potential use of solar-pumped lasers could be spanned over wide terrestrial and space applications such as, for instance, asteroid deflection [1], relativistic propulsion using directed energy [2], mitigation and remediation of the space debris problem [3], wireless power transmission of solar energy from space [4], laser acceleration of proton and ion beams [5], fast ignition by laser generated proton beams [6], inertial laser fusion [7], laser driven neutron sources [8], materials science [9,10], production of long-life betavoltaic nuclear batteries [11] in a cost-effective manner using solar power and so on. In other words, most of the existing or being developed electrically driven laser technologies, for which there is necessity for scaling up and thereby high energy consumption, could be realized with the lasers powered by solar energy, by creating large-scale plants generating laser power.…”