Deuterium cluster fusion driven by Coulomb explosions

Summary form only given. A number of experiments have been conducted in recent years examining the interactions of intense femtosecond laser pulses with large (10/sup 2/-10/sup 6/ atoms) van der Waals bonded clusters. Many research groups have reported that these interactions can be very energetic. Perhaps most remarkable has been the discovery that these large clusters, when irradiated at intensity above 10/sup 15/ W/cm/sup 2/, eject ions with substantial kinetic energy; ions with energy as high as 1 MeV have been seen from exploding Xe clusters. This large release of kinetic energy in fast ions can be harnessed to drive nuclear fusion if deuterium clusters are irradiated in a gas of sufficient average density. Indeed, we have recently observed these fusion reactions in deuterium clusters with an average size of roughly 5 nm diameter.