Solid-State Light Ion Fusion

核聚变发生在氢原子融合产生良性氦气的同时也释放能量，有望成为可扩展的无碳能源的潜在来源。然而，自从1958年首次演示可控核聚变以来，研究人员一直在努力解决一个基本问题，即传统的核聚变能源生产目前需要的工作温度为100万至1000万摄氏度。用目前的技术制造和维持这种极端温度，哪怕是几分之一秒，都需要输入比核聚变最终产生的能量更多的能量。英属哥伦比亚大学的Berlinguette小组与谷歌LLC以及麻省理工学院和劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室的合作者合作，正在研究一种在更容易达到的温度下介导聚变反应的替代方法。该团队正在使用聪明的材料科学来测试装载高浓度氢的钯靶是否能在比目前已知的温度低得多的温度下产生聚变速率。预计该项目将激发对科学和工程仪器领域具有直接商业价值的技术发展，例如与量子计算、超导、地质测量、材料检测和医疗放射学相关的软件、材料和仪器。该团队的长期任务是规避当代聚变技术在高温条件下固有的工程和基础设施挑战。这种类型的前沿项目吸引了加拿大大学的顶尖人才，这使得能够为一些社会最大挑战提供“加拿大制造”解决方案的创新研究成为可能。如果我们最终要利用低能量聚变作为一种工业规模的能源生产手段，这种性质的创新研发工作至关重要。广泛利用核聚变发电不仅有利于加拿大，而且有利于全球能源部门，因为它消除了全球能源需求不断增长对环境的负面影响。

Nuclear fusion, which occurs when hydrogen atoms fuse to produce benign helium gas while also releasing energy, holds promise as a potential source of scalable, carbon-free energy. Since the first demonstration of controlled nuclear fusion in 1958, however, researchers have battled against the fundamental problem that conventional fusion energy production currently requires operating temperatures of >10 million degrees Celsius. Producing and maintaining such extreme temperatures for even a fraction of a second with current technologies requires the input of more energy than is eventually produced by the fusion process. The Berlinguette Group at the University of British Columbia, in partnership with Google LLC and collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, are investigating an alternative approach to mediating fusion reactions at more accessible temperatures. The team is using clever materials science to test whether palladium targets loaded with high concentrations of hydrogen can yield rates of fusion at temperatures that are strikingly lower than what is currently known. This project is anticipated to inspire the development of technology with direct commercial value to the scientific and engineering instrumentation sectors, such as software, materials, and instrumentation relevant to quantum computing, superconductivity, geological surveying, material inspection, and medical radiography. The team's long-term mission is to circumvent the engineering and infrastructure challenges inherent to the high temperature conditions of contemporary fusion techniques. This type of leading edge project attracts top talent to Canadian universities, which enables innovative research capable of providing "made in Canada" solutions to some of society's greatest challenges. If we are to eventually harness low energy fusion as a means of energy production at industrial scale, innovative R&D work of this nature is critical. Widespread leveraging of fusion power would benefit not only Canada, but the global energy sector by eliminating the negative environmental impacts of increasing global energy demands.