Laser Driven Neutron Generation at the Texas Petawatt

ORAL

Abstract

We realized a bright laser-driven neutron source at the Texas Petawatt laser facility. We investigated the interplay between ion- and x-ray- driven neutron production regimes, by scanning a large range of target thicknesses, converter materials and laser parameters. We employed a large suite of electron, ion, gamma and neutron diagnostics to obtain a complete characterization of the interaction energetics. Neutron yields in excess of 10$^{9}$ neutrons/shot with a fairly isotropic distribution were measured.

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Authors

  • Ishay Pomerantz

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • Eddie McCary

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • Alexander R. Meadows

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • Arantxa Cepeda Lestrade

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • Clay Chester

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • Jose Cortez

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • Gilliss Dyer

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA, University of Texas at Austin

  • Erhard Gaul

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • D.C. Gautier

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • David Hamilton

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • Daniel Jung

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

  • R.C. Shah

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Chunhua Wang

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • J.C. Fernandez

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Todd Ditmire

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA, University of Texas at Austin

  • Bjorn Hegelich

    The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA, UT Austin