Prof Peter Norreys FInstP;

Abstract:

Intense laser-plasma interactions produce high brightness beams of gamma rays, neutrons and ions and have the potential to deliver accelerating gradients more than 1000 times higher than conventional accelerator technology, and on a tabletop scale. This paper demonstrates one of the exciting applications of this technology, namely for transmutation studies of long-lived radioactive waste. We report the laser-driven photo-transmutation of long-lived 129I with a half-life of 15.7 million years to 128I with a half-life of 25 min. In addition, an integrated cross-section of 97±40 mbarns for the reaction 129I(γ,n)128I is determined from the measured ratio of the (γ,n) induced 128I and 126I activities. The potential for affordable, easy to shield, tabletop laser technology for nuclear transmutation studies is highlighted.

Abstract:

Heavy-ion induced nuclear reactions in materials exposed to energetic ions produced from high-intensity ([Formula presented]) laser-solid interactions have been experimentally investigated for the first time. Many of the radionuclides produced result from the creation of “compound nuclei” with the subsequent evaporation of proton, neutron, and alpha particles. Results are compared with previous measurements with monochromatic ion beams from a conventional accelerator. Measured nuclide yields are used to diagnose the acceleration of ions from laser-ablated plasma to energies greater than 100 MeV. © 2003 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

An innovative target design was used to perform the first studies of the propagation of very high current laser-produced electron beams in a regime relevant to the fast ignition scheme. Although it appears that (Weibel) and two-stream instabilities in plasmas where the beam density was close to the background plasma density-use of cone-guided schemes for fast ignition may be able to reduce the propagation distance of the electron beam and reduce the effect of these instabilities.

Abstract:

The process of fast ignition (FI) using various laser systems was analyzed. A Petta watt (PW) laser system was used to study the basic elements relevant to FI, which could also be injected to a compressed core. Using a spherical target inserted with a Au cone guide for the PW laser pulse, an imploded core was heated upto 1 keV resulting in neutron increase which is 1000 times more than that without heating pulse.