Nuclear fusion driven by Coulomb explosion of homonuclear and heteronuclear deuterium- and tritium-containing clusters

TLDR

The study investigates the efficiency of d+d and d+t fusion driven by Coulomb explosion. Classical dynamics simulations of intense laser ionization and Coulomb explosion of large D and T clusters show that d+d fusion in (D₂O)ₙ clusters is enhanced by both energetic and kinematic effects, while d+t fusion in (T₂O)ₙ clusters is dominated by energetic effects. Fusion yield increases with cluster size, and heteronuclear D/T clusters produce significantly higher d+d and d+t yields than homonuclear clusters of the same size, with mixed D/T clusters enabling highly efficient d+t fusion.

Abstract

The ionization and Coulomb explosion of homonuclear ${\mathrm{D}}_{n}$ and ${\mathrm{T}}_{n}$ $(n=959--8007)$ and heteronuclear $({\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}{)}_{n}$ and $({\mathrm{T}}_{2}\mathrm{O}{)}_{n}$ $(n=459--2171)$ clusters in very intense $(I=5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{14}--5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{18}{\mathrm{W}\mathrm{}\mathrm{cm}}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2})$ laser fields is studied using classical dynamics simulations. The efficiency of the $d+d$ and $d+t$ nuclear fusion driven by the Coulomb explosion (NFDCE) is explored. The $d+d$ NFDCE of $({\mathrm{D}}_{2}\mathrm{O}{)}_{n}$ heteronuclear clusters is enhanced by energetic and kinematic effects for ${\mathrm{D}}^{+},$ while for $({\mathrm{T}}_{2}\mathrm{O}{)}_{n}$ heteronuclear clusters the kinetic energy of ${\mathrm{T}}^{+}$ is dominated by energetic effects. The cluster size dependence of the fusion reaction yield has been established. The heteronuclear clusters provide considerably higher $d+d$ and $d+t$ fusion reaction yields than the homonuclear clusters of the same size. The clusters consisting of both D and T atoms can provide highly efficient $d+t$ fusion reactions.