Nuclear fusion driven by Coulomb explosion of homonuclear and heteronuclear deuterium- and tritium-containing clusters

The ionization and Coulomb explosion of homonuclear [Formula Presented] and [Formula Presented] [Formula Presented] and heteronuclear [Formula Presented] and [Formula Presented] [Formula Presented] clusters in very intense [Formula Presented] laser fields is studied using classical dynamics simulations. The efficiency of the [Formula Presented] and [Formula Presented] nuclear fusion driven by the Coulomb explosion (NFDCE) is explored. The [Formula Presented] NFDCE of [Formula Presented] heteronuclear clusters is enhanced by energetic and kinematic effects for [Formula Presented] while for [Formula Presented] heteronuclear clusters the kinetic energy of [Formula Presented] is dominated by energetic effects. The cluster size dependence of the fusion reaction yield has been established. The heteronuclear clusters provide considerably higher [Formula Presented] and [Formula Presented] fusion reaction yields than the homonuclear clusters of the same size. The clusters consisting of both D and T atoms can provide highly efficient [Formula Presented] fusion reactions.