Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilities
Driving of the nuclear fusion reaction p + 11B → 3α + 8.7 MeV under laboratory conditions by interaction between high-power laser pulses and matter has become a popular field of research, owing to its numerous potential applications: as an alternative to deuterium–tritium for fusion energy productio...
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2025-05-01
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| Series: | Matter and Radiation at Extremes |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0241993 |
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| author | M. Scisciò G. Petringa Z. Zhu M. R. D. Rodrigues M. Alonzo P. L. Andreoli F. Filippi Fe. Consoli M. Huault D. Raffestin D. Molloy H. Larreur D. Singappuli T. Carriere C. Verona P. Nicolai A. McNamee M. Ehret E. Filippov R. Lera J. A. Pérez-Hernández S. Agarwal M. Krupka S. Singh V. Istokskaia D. Lattuada M. La Cognata G. L. Guardo S. Palmerini G. Rapisarda K. Batani M. Cipriani G. Cristofari E. Di Ferdinando G. Di Giorgio R. De Angelis D. Giulietti J. Xu L. Volpe M. D. Rodríguez-Frías L. Giuffrida D. Margarone D. Batani G. A. P. Cirrone A. Bonasera Fa. Consoli |
| author_facet | M. Scisciò G. Petringa Z. Zhu M. R. D. Rodrigues M. Alonzo P. L. Andreoli F. Filippi Fe. Consoli M. Huault D. Raffestin D. Molloy H. Larreur D. Singappuli T. Carriere C. Verona P. Nicolai A. McNamee M. Ehret E. Filippov R. Lera J. A. Pérez-Hernández S. Agarwal M. Krupka S. Singh V. Istokskaia D. Lattuada M. La Cognata G. L. Guardo S. Palmerini G. Rapisarda K. Batani M. Cipriani G. Cristofari E. Di Ferdinando G. Di Giorgio R. De Angelis D. Giulietti J. Xu L. Volpe M. D. Rodríguez-Frías L. Giuffrida D. Margarone D. Batani G. A. P. Cirrone A. Bonasera Fa. Consoli |
| author_sort | M. Scisciò |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Driving of the nuclear fusion reaction p + 11B → 3α + 8.7 MeV under laboratory conditions by interaction between high-power laser pulses and matter has become a popular field of research, owing to its numerous potential applications: as an alternative to deuterium–tritium for fusion energy production, astrophysics studies, and alpha-particle generation for medical treatment. One possible scheme for laser-driven p–11B reactions is to direct a beam of laser-accelerated protons onto a boron (B) sample (the so-called “pitcher-catcher” scheme). This technique has been successfully implemented on large high-energy lasers, yielding hundreds of joules per shot at low repetition. We present here a complementary approach, exploiting the high repetition rate of the VEGA III petawatt laser at CLPU (Spain), aiming at accumulating results from many interactions at much lower energy, to provide better control of the parameters and the statistics of the measurements. Despite a moderate energy per pulse, our experiment allowed exploration of the laser-driven fusion process with tens (up to hundreds) of laser shots. The experiment provided a clear signature of the reactions involved and of the fusion products, accumulated over many shots, leading to an improved optimization of the diagnostics for experimental campaigns of this type. In this paper, we discuss the effectiveness of laser-driven p–11B fusion in the pitcher–catcher scheme, at a high repetition rate, addressing the challenges of this experimental scheme and highlighting its critical aspects. Our proposed methodology allows evaluation of the performance of this scheme for laser-driven alpha particle production and can be adapted to high-repetition-rate laser facilities with higher energy and intensity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6925ef329fea45aa8dddd481f6c8f0aa |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2468-080X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | AIP Publishing LLC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Matter and Radiation at Extremes |
| spelling | doaj-art-6925ef329fea45aa8dddd481f6c8f0aa2025-08-20T03:19:47ZengAIP Publishing LLCMatter and Radiation at Extremes2468-080X2025-05-01103037402037402-1710.1063/5.0241993Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilitiesM. Scisciò0G. Petringa1Z. Zhu2M. R. D. Rodrigues3M. Alonzo4P. L. Andreoli5F. Filippi6Fe. Consoli7M. Huault8D. Raffestin9D. Molloy10H. Larreur11D. Singappuli12T. Carriere13C. Verona14P. Nicolai15A. McNamee16M. Ehret17E. Filippov18R. Lera19J. A. Pérez-Hernández20S. Agarwal21M. Krupka22S. Singh23V. Istokskaia24D. Lattuada25M. La Cognata26G. L. Guardo27S. Palmerini28G. Rapisarda29K. Batani30M. Cipriani31G. Cristofari32E. Di Ferdinando33G. Di Giorgio34R. De Angelis35D. Giulietti36J. Xu37L. Volpe38M. D. Rodríguez-Frías39L. Giuffrida40D. Margarone41D. Batani42G. A. P. Cirrone43A. Bonasera44Fa. Consoli45ENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyCyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USACyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USAENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyDepartamento de Fisica Fundamental, Universidad de Salamanca, Patio de Escuelas 1, 37008 Salamanca, SpainUniversité de Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications), Unité Mixte de Recherche 5107, Talence 33400, FranceCentre for Light–Matter Interactions, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United KingdomDepartamento de Fisica Fundamental, Universidad de Salamanca, Patio de Escuelas 1, 37008 Salamanca, SpainUniversité de Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications), Unité Mixte de Recherche 5107, Talence 33400, FranceUniversité de Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications), Unité Mixte de Recherche 5107, Talence 33400, FranceDipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata,”, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Roma, ItalyUniversité de Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications), Unité Mixte de Recherche 5107, Talence 33400, FranceCentre for Light–Matter Interactions, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, United KingdomCentro de Laseres Pulsados, Building M5, Science Park, Calle Adaja 8, Villamayor, 37185 Salamanca, SpainCentro de Laseres Pulsados, Building M5, Science Park, Calle Adaja 8, Villamayor, 37185 Salamanca, SpainCentro de Laseres Pulsados, Building M5, Science Park, Calle Adaja 8, Villamayor, 37185 Salamanca, SpainCentro de Laseres Pulsados, Building M5, Science Park, Calle Adaja 8, Villamayor, 37185 Salamanca, SpainFZU–Institute of Physics of Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 21 Prague, Czech RepublicFZU–Institute of Physics of Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 21 Prague, Czech RepublicFZU–Institute of Physics of Czech Academy of Sciences, 182 21 Prague, Czech RepublicELI Beamlines Facility, The Extreme Light Infrastructure ERIC, Dolni Brezany 252 41, Czech RepublicLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyDipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli s/n, 06125 Perugia, ItalyLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyIPPLM Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, Hery Street 23, 01-497 Warsaw, PolandENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyDipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa and INFN, Largo B. Pontecorvo, n. 3, 56127 Pisa, ItalyShanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaCentro de Laseres Pulsados, Building M5, Science Park, Calle Adaja 8, Villamayor, 37185 Salamanca, SpainCentro de Laseres Pulsados, Building M5, Science Park, Calle Adaja 8, Villamayor, 37185 Salamanca, SpainLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyUniversité de Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications), Unité Mixte de Recherche 5107, Talence 33400, FranceLaboratori Nazionali del Sud, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (LNS-INFN), 95125 Catania, ItalyCyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USAENEA Nuclear Department – C. R. Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, ItalyDriving of the nuclear fusion reaction p + 11B → 3α + 8.7 MeV under laboratory conditions by interaction between high-power laser pulses and matter has become a popular field of research, owing to its numerous potential applications: as an alternative to deuterium–tritium for fusion energy production, astrophysics studies, and alpha-particle generation for medical treatment. One possible scheme for laser-driven p–11B reactions is to direct a beam of laser-accelerated protons onto a boron (B) sample (the so-called “pitcher-catcher” scheme). This technique has been successfully implemented on large high-energy lasers, yielding hundreds of joules per shot at low repetition. We present here a complementary approach, exploiting the high repetition rate of the VEGA III petawatt laser at CLPU (Spain), aiming at accumulating results from many interactions at much lower energy, to provide better control of the parameters and the statistics of the measurements. Despite a moderate energy per pulse, our experiment allowed exploration of the laser-driven fusion process with tens (up to hundreds) of laser shots. The experiment provided a clear signature of the reactions involved and of the fusion products, accumulated over many shots, leading to an improved optimization of the diagnostics for experimental campaigns of this type. In this paper, we discuss the effectiveness of laser-driven p–11B fusion in the pitcher–catcher scheme, at a high repetition rate, addressing the challenges of this experimental scheme and highlighting its critical aspects. Our proposed methodology allows evaluation of the performance of this scheme for laser-driven alpha particle production and can be adapted to high-repetition-rate laser facilities with higher energy and intensity.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0241993 |
| spellingShingle | M. Scisciò G. Petringa Z. Zhu M. R. D. Rodrigues M. Alonzo P. L. Andreoli F. Filippi Fe. Consoli M. Huault D. Raffestin D. Molloy H. Larreur D. Singappuli T. Carriere C. Verona P. Nicolai A. McNamee M. Ehret E. Filippov R. Lera J. A. Pérez-Hernández S. Agarwal M. Krupka S. Singh V. Istokskaia D. Lattuada M. La Cognata G. L. Guardo S. Palmerini G. Rapisarda K. Batani M. Cipriani G. Cristofari E. Di Ferdinando G. Di Giorgio R. De Angelis D. Giulietti J. Xu L. Volpe M. D. Rodríguez-Frías L. Giuffrida D. Margarone D. Batani G. A. P. Cirrone A. Bonasera Fa. Consoli Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilities Matter and Radiation at Extremes |
| title | Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilities |
| title_full | Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilities |
| title_fullStr | Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilities |
| title_short | Laser-initiated p–11B fusion reactions in petawatt high-repetition-rate laser facilities |
| title_sort | laser initiated p 11b fusion reactions in petawatt high repetition rate laser facilities |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0241993 |
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