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Updated: Sep 28, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Ion heating and thermonuclear neutron production from high-intensity subpicosecond laser pulses interacting with
S Fritzler1, Z Najmudin, V Malka
1Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, UMR 7605, CNRS-CEA, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 91128, Palaiseau, France.
Abstract:
Thermonuclear fusion neutrons produced by D(d,n)3He reactions have been measured from the interaction of a high-intensity laser with underdense deuterium plasmas. For an input laser energy of 62 J, more than (1.0+/-0.2)x10(6) neutrons with a mean kinetic energy of (2.5+/-0.2) MeV were detected. These neutrons were observed to have an isotropic angular emission profile. By comparing these measurements with those using a secondary solid CD2 target it was determined that neutrons are produced from direct ion heating during this interaction.
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