Date:
Mon, 09/12/201314:30-15:30
Location:
Hall 7 (in the corridor of the 1st floor between the Physics and Chemistry buildings) at the Tel Aviv University
"Frontiers In Ultrafast Nuclear Science":
For the past few decades, nuclear research has been exclusive to large accelerator and reactor facilities. The availability of tabletop particle sources based on high intensity lasers opens venues for bringing nuclear research into university-scale laboratories. I will report on our experimental realization of a novel ultra-short pulsed laser-driven neutron source. Our results show a dramatic onset of high-energy electron generation from petawatt laser-irradiated plastic targets. The copious amounts of multi-MeV electrons are utilized to generate photo-neutrons from a metal converter. The neutrons are generated with a <50 ps pulse duration and an unprecedented flux of 10^18 n/cm2/s.
I will also describe our conceptual design for the production of neutron-rich nuclei using high intensity lasers. In our approach, large van der Waals bonded clusters of ThO2 undergo coulombic explosion under the high electric field in the focus of the laser. The resulting kinetic energies are sufficient for the oxygen to induce fission in the thorium, and for the fission fragments to fuse into heavy and extremely neutron rich nuclei.
I will discuss the prospects of these methods in performing r-process studies in the lab and some application.
For the past few decades, nuclear research has been exclusive to large accelerator and reactor facilities. The availability of tabletop particle sources based on high intensity lasers opens venues for bringing nuclear research into university-scale laboratories. I will report on our experimental realization of a novel ultra-short pulsed laser-driven neutron source. Our results show a dramatic onset of high-energy electron generation from petawatt laser-irradiated plastic targets. The copious amounts of multi-MeV electrons are utilized to generate photo-neutrons from a metal converter. The neutrons are generated with a <50 ps pulse duration and an unprecedented flux of 10^18 n/cm2/s.
I will also describe our conceptual design for the production of neutron-rich nuclei using high intensity lasers. In our approach, large van der Waals bonded clusters of ThO2 undergo coulombic explosion under the high electric field in the focus of the laser. The resulting kinetic energies are sufficient for the oxygen to induce fission in the thorium, and for the fission fragments to fuse into heavy and extremely neutron rich nuclei.
I will discuss the prospects of these methods in performing r-process studies in the lab and some application.