Laser fusion ion temperatures determined by neutron time-of-flight techniques

Measurements have been made of the energy spectrum of neutrons emitted as a result of laser compression of D-T-filled glass microshells using a time-of-flight spectrometer. From the width of unfolded energy spectra, plasma ion temperatures of approximately 6 keV have been determined for 90-μm-diam targets irradiated with 2 TW of 1.06-μm light. The measured mean neutron energy of 14.00±0.10 MeV agrees with the expected value of 14.05 MeV.