Dominant deuteron acceleration with a high-intensity laser for isotope production and neutron generation

Experiments on the interaction of an ultra-short pulse laser with heavy-water, ice-covered copper targets, at an intensity of 2 x 10(19) W/cm(2), were performed demonstrating the generation of a "pure" deuteron beam with a divergence of 20 degrees, maximum energy of 8 MeV, and a total of 3 x 10(11) deuterons with energy above 1 MeV-equivalent to a conversion efficiency of 1.5% +/- 0.2%. Subsequent experiments on irradiation of a B-10 sample with deuterons and neutron generation from d-d reactions in a pitcher-catcher geometry, resulted in the production of similar to 10(6) atoms of the positron emitter C-11 and a neutron flux of (4 +/- 1) x 10(5) neutrons/sterad, respectively. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC