Comparative studies of fission fragment and electron beam driven solid-state lasers and reactor-laser system modeling

Abstract

A model for a Solid State Nuclear Pumped Laser (SSNPL) system was developed. The model consists of alternating layers of GaN, pure uranium metal, and diamond. The MCNP simulations are used to estimate the minimum core size necessary to achieve criticality. The use of electron beam pumped lasers (EBL) was demonstrated as cost effective analogs for testing SSNPL systems. The reason that EBLs are an effective analog for SSNPL systems is due to a common mechanism responsible for creating the electron-hole pairs in the semiconductor material. A laser model is given and analyzed for a GaAs based EBL system using MCNP simulations of an electron beam. The EBL laser model is modified for fission fragment excitation and applied to the SSNPL system. A system lifetime is estimated based on the dislocations produced by fission products and minimum laser threshold calculations.