Nuclear fusion driven by Coulomb explosions of large deuterium clusters

Recent experiments on the interaction of intense, ultrafast laser pulses wi th large van der Waals bonded clusters have shown that these clusters can e xplode with substantial kinetic energy. By driving explosions in deuterium clusters with a 35 fs laser pulse, we have accelerated ions to sufficient k inetic energy to produce DD nuclear fusion. By diagnosing the fusion yield through measurements of 2.45 MeV fusion neutrons, we have found that the fu sion yield from these exploding clusters varies strongly with the cluster s ize, consistent with acceleration of deuterons via Coulomb explosion forces .