Theory of Laser-Induced Nuclear Fusion

Abstract

It is to the merit of Basov and Krokhin that they discussed¹³⁵ the possibilities of laser heating of solid deuterium or mixtures of deuterium with tritium for the purpose of nuclear fusion. Not only are the physical facts interesting but also theirs is the first discussion in the open literature. The earlier work done on a classified basis could never be dignified completely, and the step of Basov and Krokhin¹³⁵ was an act of authority without which the many attempts of other investigators would have been disqualified with the well-known expressions of “frivolous” and “fantastic” before any physical discussion. Indeed, this early phase of work was characterized by a flexible imagination -- as is usual in all new fields and especially in such an uncommon subject. The first subject studied was the gas dynamics of expansion of a laser-irradiated sphere under highly-simplified assumptions concerning the optical properties of absorption and radiation from laser-produced plasmas.