Abstract
Recently, a new version of laser-induced fusion was proposed where implanted nanoantennas regulated and amplified the light absorption in the fusion target [L.P. Csernai et al., Phys. Wave Phenom. 28, 187–99 (2020)]. In this paper we estimate the nanoantenna lifetime in a dynamical kinetic model and describe how electrons are leaving the nanoantenna’s surface, and for how long the plasmonic effect is maintained. Our model successfully shows a nanorod antenna lifetime that will allow future fusion studies with top-energy short laser ignition pulses.
- Received 9 December 2021
- Revised 13 May 2022
- Accepted 20 May 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXEnergy.1.023001
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.
Published by the American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Popular Summary
Rapid advances in nuclear fusion research suggest that a practical route to fusion power may soon be within reach. A promising approach for generating fusion power is laser-induced inertial confinement fusion (ICF), which has progressed significantly in recent years due to increasingly powerful laser pulses and advancements in target design. Work from the NAPLIFE collaboration has suggested that rapid laser heating of the target material aided by plasmonic nanoinclusions may avoid potential instabilities and allow for successful ignition. Inspired by this previous work, here the authors use a kinetic model based on the Particle-in-Cell method to explore how gold nanorods can act as plasmonic antennas to boost the laser-induced heating of the target material. Importantly, the model also predicts the resilience of the nanorods under these harsh conditions and identifies the maximum laser pulse intensity and duration the nanorods can withstand. The results suggest that gold nanorods efficiently absorb the resonant laser energy and, under the right conditions, can survive a high-intensity ignition pulse.
