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Laser-driven plasma collider for nuclear studies

  • Letter
  • Physics & Astronomy
  • Published:
Science Bulletin

Abstract

A novel method of initiating nuclear fusion reactions in a full plasma environment was suggested, and a proof-of-concept experiment was carried out with the \(\hbox {D}+\hbox {D } \rightarrow \hbox { n}\,+\,^3\)He reaction. In this new approach, two plasma jets generated by high-intensity lasers collide head-on-head. The center-of-mass energy of the nuclei increases accordingly, and therefore, reaction products can be significantly enhanced, especially in the sub-Coulomb barrier ranges. As a result of the fusion reaction, up to \(\sim 7.6\times 10^{5}\) neutrons had been observed. This new type of “plasma collider” could provide an innovative tool to study nuclear reactions under astrophysical conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the SG-II staff for operating the laser facility and CAEP staff for providing some diagnostics and target fabrication. This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2013CBA01501 and 2013CB834401), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11135012 and 11135005). One of us (CBF) thanks the Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (20120073110065) and Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission ( 11DZ2260700) for the supports.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Changbo Fu, Liang Li, Yang Sun, Xiaopeng Zhang & Jie Zhang

  2. Physics Department, China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing, 102413, China

    Jie Bao & Long Hou

  3. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Liming Chen, Yanfei Li, Yutong Li, Guoqian Liao, Jiarui Zhao & Baojun Zhu

  4. IFSA Collaborative Innovation Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Liming Chen, Yutong Li, Yang Sun & Jie Zhang

  5. Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Jianjun He & Shiwei Xu

  6. Nuclear Data Center, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejon, 305353, Korea

    Yongjoo Rhee

  7. National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Dawei Yuan & Gang Zhao

  8. Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China

    Jianqiang Zhu

Authors
  1. Changbo Fu
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  2. Jie Bao
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  3. Liming Chen
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  4. Jianjun He
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  5. Long Hou
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  6. Liang Li
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  7. Yanfei Li
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  8. Yutong Li
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  9. Guoqian Liao
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  10. Yongjoo Rhee
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  11. Yang Sun
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  12. Shiwei Xu
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  13. Dawei Yuan
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  14. Xiaopeng Zhang
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  15. Gang Zhao
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  16. Jiarui Zhao
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  17. Baojun Zhu
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  18. Jianqiang Zhu
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  19. Jie Zhang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Changbo Fu or Jie Zhang.

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Cite this article

Fu, C., Bao, J., Chen, L. et al. Laser-driven plasma collider for nuclear studies. Sci. Bull. 60, 1211–1213 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-015-0821-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-015-0821-0

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