High-Repetition-Rate Laser-Driven Fast Neutron Generation from Planar Liquid Heavy Water Jets

Abstract

We demonstrate a high-repetition-rate, directional pitcher-catcher neutron source employing a continuously flowing, ambient-temperature liquid jet pitcher and a beryllium catcher target. Proton or deuteron beams are accelerated at 0.5 Hz from water (H$_{2}$O) or heavy water (D$_{2}$O) sheet jets using the $2ω$ ALEPH laser at Colorado State University. Deuteron-induced neutron generation shows an average flux enhancement in the target normal direction of 13x compared to proton-induced neutron generation, achieving peak fluxes of $7.9\times10^{5}$ neutrons/sr. The experimentally predicted ion-to-neutron conversion efficiency of 1.5$\times 10^{-5}$ for protons and 1.1$\times 10^{-3}$ for deuterons indicates a significant yield contribution from the deuteron breakup reaction. High shot-to-shot stability neutron spectra up to 8.7~MeV ($^9$Be(d,n)$^{10}$B) are observed for more than 200 consecutive shots.