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Abstract

The production of intense neutron beams via thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas is investigated theoretically. So far, state-of-the-art neutron beams are produced via laser-induced particle acceleration leading to high-energy particle beams that subsequently interact with a secondary target. Here, we show that neutron beams of two orders of magnitude narrower bandwidth can be obtained from thermonuclear reactions in plasmas generated by Petawatt-class lasers. The intensity of such neutron beams is about one or two orders of magnitude lower than the one of the state-of-the-art laser-driven neutron beams. We study to this end the reaction ²H(d, n)³He in plasmas generated by Petawatt-class lasers interacting with D₂ gas jet targets and CD₂ solid-state targets. The results also show the possibility of direct measurements of reaction rates at low temperatures of astrophysical interest. In addition, the use of CD₂ solid-state targets can also lead to great enhancements of the plasma screening compared to the case of D₂ gas jet targets, opening new possibilities to study this so far unsolved issue in the field of astrophysics.