Search for D-D Fusion initiated by Nuclear Hotspots in Boranes

¹ IEAP, University of Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
² Nuclear Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

^* Corresponding author: priesmeyer@physik.uni-kiel.de

Published online: 8 December 2023

Abstract

In the group of boron hydrogen compounds, decaborane and aminoborane belong to those with a particularly high hydrogen density in the molecular volume. Almost 100% of the protons in the molecule can be replaced by deuterons. In the element boron, the isotope ¹⁰B is 19.9% naturally present. By capturing thermal neutrons in this isotope, the high-energy reaction products ⁴He and ⁷Li are formed. It thus forms a hotspot in a spatially stable cloud of deuterium nuclei, which can be triggered by external action and whose energy could be transferred to deuterium in a similar way to neutral beam injection, a successful method to heat a fusion plasma.