Nuclear reactions triggered by laser-accelerated high-energy ions

A technique is suggested for triggering nuclear reactions by accelerating ions with a powerful ultrashort laser pulse in a plasma. The underlying idea of the suggested compact "reactor" is utilization of high-energy ions accelerated by the charge-separation electrostatic field in the direction perpendicular to the laser beam axis in a gas-filled capillary. Accelerated ions with energies of several MeV penetrating the target from the inside surface of a channel give rise to nuclear reactions which can be used to create a compact source of fast neutrons and neutrons of intermediate energies for generating various (short- and long-lived, light and heavy) isotopes, for generating gamma radiation over a broad energy range, for making sources of light ion and induced radioactivity. The yield of the corresponding nuclear reactions as a function of the laser beam parameters has been investigated. The suggested technique for triggering nuclear reactions provides a practical tool for studies of nuclear transformation on the pico- and nanosecond scales, which cannot be achieved using other methods. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7761(99)01306-2].