Detailed study of nuclear fusion from femtosecond laser-driven explosions of deuterium clusters

Recent experiments on the interaction of intense, ultrafast pulses with large van der Waals bonded clusters have shown that these clusters can explode with sufficient kinetic energy to drive nuclear fusion. Irradiating deuterium clusters with a 35 fs laser pulse, it is found that the fusion neutron yield is strongly dependent on such factors as cluster size, laser focal geometry, and deuterium gas jet parameters. Neutron yield is shown to be limited by laser propagation effects as the pulse traverses the gas plume. From the experiments it is possible to get a detailed understanding of how the laser deposits its energy and heats the deuterium cluster plasma. The experiments are compared with simulations.