Solid-State Light Ion Fusion

当氢原子融合产生良性氦气同时释放能量时发生的核聚变，有望成为可扩展的无碳能源的潜在来源。然而，自1958年首次展示受控核聚变以来，研究人员一直在与传统聚变能源生产目前需要超过1000万摄氏度的工作温度这一基本问题作斗争。用目前的技术产生和维持这样的极端温度，即使是几分之一秒，也需要输入比聚变过程最终产生的更多的能量。不列颠哥伦比亚省大学的Berlinguette小组与谷歌有限责任公司以及马萨诸塞州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接近的温度下调解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负载高浓度氢的钯靶是否可以在比目前已知的温度低得多的温度下产生聚变率。该项目预计将激发对科学和工程仪器领域具有直接商业价值的技术的开发，例如与量子计算，超导，地质测量，材料检测和医学放射摄影相关的软件，材料和仪器。该团队的长期使命是规避现代聚变技术高温条件所固有的工程和基础设施挑战。这种类型的前沿项目吸引了顶尖人才到加拿大的大学，这使得创新研究能够提供“加拿大制造”的解决方案，一些社会的最大挑战。如果我们最终要利用低能聚变作为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，也有利于全球能源部门，因为它消除了全球能源需求增加对环境的负面影响。

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.