Elements heavier than iron are thought to be born in neutron-star mergers. In these events, nuclei can capture additional neutrons then decay via beta emission into isotopes with higher atomic numbers. Since the 1950s, experimentalists have sought to decipher the stellar conditions under which sequences of these neutron captures occur. But a description has been elusive because of the difficulty of generating the extreme neutron fluxes required to create neutron-rich isotopes in the lab. Vojtěch Horný of the Laboratory for the Use of Intense Lasers in France and his colleagues now identify specific parameter limitations that stand between present-day lasers and future laser-driven reactors that could yield neutron fluxes suitable for nucleosynthesis demonstrations [1]. Their calculations show what it would take to offer realistic prospects for laser-based generation of neutron-rich isotopes.
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