Muon Catalyzed Fusion: Introduction, progress toward high-density yield measurements, and application prospects

Ara Knaian

Acceleron

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

12:00pm

NW17-218 Hybrid

PSFC Seminars

Abstract: When a muon stops in a mixture of hydrogen isotopes, it can catalyze nuclear fusion reactions at temperatures well below those required for plasma fusion. In dense deuterium-tritium mixtures, the effect is rapid compared to the muon lifetime, and a single muon can catalyze more than 100 fusion reactions.  The number of fusion reactions per muon is limited by the muon lifetime and by sticking to charged fusion products.

Our collaboration is working to measure the kinetics and yield of muon-catalyzed fusion at higher temperatures and pressures than have been reached previously. (7 - 1500 K, 0 - 5 GPa)  We will use a diamond anvil cell to compress and heat a millimeter-sized volume of liquified hydrogen isotopes.   Scintillation counters will register incoming muons from the beamline, outgoing neutrons from the fusion, and outgoing electrons from muon decay.  We will compute the cycling rate and sticking fraction for each set of experimental conditions.   

In this talk, I will give an overview of muon-catalyzed fusion, describe the aims of our experiment, describe our detector and target systems, show results-to-date from our ongoing experimental campaign at PSI, and discuss plans for upcoming data collection runs.  I will also discuss potential commercial applications of muon-catalyzed fusion and give bounds on the energy cost per muon and fusion yield required for electrical power production.  This work is supported by ARPA-E, Fermilab, PSI, and NK Labs.

Bio: Ara N. Knaian is the Principal Investigator of the dMu/DT collaboration and is a Principal Engineer at NK Labs. His research interests are muon-catalyzed fusion, experimental nuclear physics, optimization of engineered systems using machine learning, and applied electromagnetics. He is a member of CERN's GEANT4 collaboration. At NK Labs, he leads a team of 20 engineers doing applied research and developing products for a range of industries. He is an inventor on more than 45 issued U.S. patents. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the area of electrodynamics and energy systems.