Investigation of the Yield of the Nuclear Reaction ${}^{{11}}$B(${p,3\alpha}$ ) Initiated by Powerful Picosecond Laser Radiation

Abstract

The results obtained by experimentally and theoretically studying the yield of the promising nuclear-fusion reaction ${}^{11}$B($p,3\alpha$) initiated by powerful picosecond laser radiation of intensity $3\times 10^{18}$ W/cm${}^{2}$ are presented. A new procedure that relies on a simultaneous detection of the yield of alpha particles and the neutron yield in the reference reaction ${}^{11}$B$(p,n)^{11}$C and which permits reaching a high precision of measurements is employed. The measured alpha-particle yield per pulse in the reaction ${}^{11}$B($p,3\alpha$) is 10${}^{9}$ particles in 4$\pi$ sr at the above laser-pulse parameters. The results of a numerical particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of the nuclear-fusion reaction ${}^{11}$B($p,3\alpha$) proceeding in a solid-state boron target are presented. These results on the alpha-particle yield per pulse in the reaction ${}^{11}$B($p,3\alpha$) agree fairly well with experimental results.