Hybrid-kinetic PIC modeling of fusion reactions in high-density laser-driven p-B11 plasmas

The B11(p,α)αα fusion reaction is an attractive option for energy production due its aneutronic character [1]. But a purely thermonuclear approach appears to be prohibitive due to low reactivity of p-B11 fuels compared to conventional fusion reactions. A path to developing a high-gain p-B11 target will likely need to incorporate a fast-ignition-like approach to achieving burn, with high-energy protons accelerated by intense laser pulses interacting with a pre-compressed fuel. In order to determine possible burn regimes in such a configuration, it is important to model kinetic effects of the accelerated protons and resulting fusion products as well as account for loss mechanisms. For this purpose, the hybrid PIC code Chicago is utilized as a simulation tool which has binary coulombic collisions to include the effect of up-scattering of protons by alphas. Fusion reactions are also performed in a fully-binary fashion, and utilize the latest cross-section data for the p-B11 reaction. A radiation model using tabulated opacities is used to account for bremsstrahlung losses. Chicago can also be used to directly model laser-plasma interactions. We present the results of simulations of pitcher-catcher experiments performed at the Texas PW laser facility, in which simulations correctly predict alpha-particle production, and a preliminary survey of the burn-space of a potential p-B11 target.

[1] P. Lalousis, H. Hora, and S. Moustaizis, Laser and Particle Beams 409 32 (2014).