Radiation pattern and source size of particles in nanoplasmonic fusion

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel approach using particle-in-cell simulations and Hanbury-Brown and Twiss analysis to determine the radiation pattern and source size of particles emitted in nanoplasmonic fusion, aiming to improve understanding of post-ignition particle dynamics.

Contribution

It adapts astrophysical correlation analysis methods to inertial confinement fusion, providing a new way to analyze emitted particle parameters without thermalization effects.

Findings

Demonstrates how to use Hanbury-Brown and Twiss analysis for fusion particles

Proposes a method to determine source size and space-time correlations in nanoplasmonic fusion

Highlights potential to analyze collective flow post-ignition

Abstract

For the angular radiation patterns of proton, deuteron or alpha emission we present a way using particle-in-cell simulation of laser induced nanoplasmonic fusion. The differential Hanbury-Brown and Twiss analysis is widely used in astrophysics and in relativistic heavy ion physics to determine the source size of emitted particles. Here, we show how this method could be adopted for inertial confinement fusion. This method aims to determine the parameters of emitted nuclei after the fusion target ignition. In addition to spatial volume, the method can detect specific space-time correlation patterns connected to the collective flow post-ignition. In the NAPLIFE project our aim is to avoid thermalization and fluidization as much as possible at each stage of the fusion process. As the original laser beam is non-thermal and not equilibrated in any way it is obvious that we can minimize energy loss if we exploit the initial available energy in a non-thermal way. The detailed dynamics of deuterium and alpha production is not aimed at and not addressed by this paper.