Fusion in a nanoshell: Harnessing plasmonic fields for nuclear reactions

Abstract

The surface of metal nanoparticles can support plasmonic excitations. These excitations dramatically amplify the electric field of incident light (by several orders of magnitude), potentially ionizing the irradiated nanoparticles in a strong field regime. Under specific conditions, a resonant enhancement of the electric field \textit{inside} a hollow nanoshell can be achieved with a laser pulse. We propose high-intensity laser irradiation of heavy water (${\rm D_2 O}$)-filled metal nanoshells to induce nuclear fusion via this enhancement. In this ``plasmonic confinement'' setup, deuteron nuclei are accelerated by the oscillating electric field within the nanoshell. We estimate that the characteristic momenta of the colliding deuterons reach approximately 10 MeV. This corresponds to an effective kinetic energy equivalent to that of deuterons in a thermonuclear plasma at temperatures around 25 keV (approximately $10^8$K). A laser with a peak pulse intensity of roughly 1 atomic unit is sufficient to generate the strong electric fields required for this plasmonic acceleration. We estimate the expected fusion rate and discuss the feasibility of a fusion reactor based on this proposed scheme.