The bubbles in the liquid could float steadily and pulsate periodically under the drive of a certain sound field. During the collapse phase, the bubbles could produce a volume compression ratio of millions of times and high temperature and pressure on the order of picoseconds. When the driving sound pressure was high enough, the energy accumulation would cause the bubbles to glow, and this phenomenon was called sonoluminescence.
Under the right driving conditions, sonoluminescence bubbles could maintain a spherical shape, and the nonlinear vibration could accurately repeat millions or hundreds of millions of cycles. This characteristic provided a possible way to achieve controllable fusion at relatively low temperatures.
Inside the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
The center of the acoustics laboratory at the Institute of Physics was temporarily used by the miniaturization of controllable fusion research team led by Lu Zhou. On the experiment table in the center of the laboratory was a transparent container with a radius of about three inches.
The entire transparent container was filled with clear and viscous concentrated sulfuric acid. High-power ultrasonic generators were connected to both sides of the container, and various sophisticated instruments and equipment were arranged around the entire set of equipment, ready to collect experimental data at any time.
Because sonoluminescence occurred at picosecond flashes, it was difficult for ordinary laboratory cameras to collect all of the flash information, especially at the moment when the bubbles collapsed to a minimum.
For this experiment, Lu Zhou even borrowed the only "phase-locked integral imaging experimental system" from the Jin Ling Institute of Acoustics.
In addition to some special acoustic experiments, this system was generally used to research anti-submarine sonar. If it weren't for Lu Zhou, the director of the Institute of Acoustics would never have agreed to lend the equipment.
Sheng Xianfu was standing next to the experimental equipment. He looked at Lu Zhou, who was standing next to him.
Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.
"Let's begin."
"Okay."
Sheng Xianfu took a deep breath and walked in front of the nearest computer. He quickly pressed a few buttons.
With a short and fleeting sound of a mosquito, the high-power ultrasonic generator began to release ultrasonic waves carrying huge amounts of energy into the solution.
After confirming that the sound pressure in the working fluid had reached the standard of five times atmospheric pressure, Lu Zhou immediately gave an order.
"Inject xenon!"
"Okay!"
With the injection of xenon, a bubble slowly floated from the bottom of the container. It floated in the center of the container under the drive of the sound field.
Then, the power of the ultrasonic transmitter began to gradually increase, and the sound pressure applied on the bubble also increased.
The moment the sound pressure on the bubble reached 15 times the standard atmospheric pressure, the xenon bubble floating in the concentrated sulfuric acid was like a lamp, flashing a purplish-white light!
Seeing this scene, the researchers around the experimental device all had a look of joy on their faces.
Although this was only a test of the experimental device, and there was still a long way to go before success, it was undoubtedly a good start.
The bubble suspended in the working fluid flashed 10 times in a row. Through the phase-locked integral imaging experimental system, several acoustic physicists at the Institute for Advanced Study immediately analyzed the photos and determined the light temperature and power through the spectrum.
After Lu Zhou took the experimental data from Sheng Xianfu's hands, he briefly looked at it.
The light output was around 130. Although it was only for a moment, it was still quite shocking. As for the peak temperature on the surface of the bubble, the most prominent group reached a terrifying number of 1.5 million Kelvin, like a star floating in a solution!
Of course, this data wasn't necessarily accurate.
After all, the collapse of the bubble happened in an instant. It wasn't easy to indirectly measure the temperature at this moment, let alone reduce the error of the data.
"The results of the first phase of the experiment are very successful. Prepare for the next phase." Lu Zhou placed the experiment report on the table and said to Sheng Xianfu, "Add a neutron shield layer to the container and prepare to inject the deuterium-tritium gas mixture!"
Sheng Xianfu nodded seriously and said, "Okay!"
The first phase of the experiment was only to test whether the design of the device was reasonable and whether it could provide enough sound pressure for the bubble so that the temperature of the bubble instantly reached a temperature of more than a million Kelvin.
Now it seemed that their experiment was very successful.
When the xenon floating in the working fluid was compressed to a point that was invisible to the naked eye, the condensed energy released a light that was more dazzling than a star.
Even though a temperature of a million kelvin was far from the ignition conditions for controllable fusion, the temperature wasn't the only condition for controllable fusion.
The sound pressure acting on the bubble not only brought the bubble a temperature of millions of Kelvin, but it also brought a terrifying density!
Density was also one of the conditions for fusion reaction!
Under Lu Zhou's instructions, the researchers in the laboratory placed the transparent container into a black box made of neutron shielding material. They then turned off the phase-locked integral imaging experimental system and repeated the previous experiment steps.
The only difference was that the gas was changed from xenon to deuterium-tritium gas mixture. The ultrasonic power also increased from the original magnitude to a new magnitude!
The experiment continued.
Although the black box blocked everyone's line of sight, this didn't hinder anything.
Some things didn't need to be seen directly. Direct data was more reliable than anything else.
The container filled with concentrated sulfuric acid was taken out of the black box. The researcher responsible for identifying the radiation damage and neutron growth rate immediately conducted a detailed analysis of the collected data.
Lu Zhou stood next to the researcher and quietly waited for the results of the experiment.
Just like that, about half an hour passed.
Finally, the results came out.
"The observation results are out!" The researcher had a look of joy on his face. He quickly handed the completed experiment report to Lu Zhou and excitedly said, "Through the detection of radiation damage on the surface of the neutron shielding material, there is enough evidence to prove that the surface of the material was bombarded by 2.5MeV neutrons during the experiment … The neutron growth rate is estimated to be 1.7%!
"Fusion reaction confirmed!"
The moment everyone in the laboratory heard this, they all had excited expressions on their faces. They almost cheered out loud.
Especially Sheng Xianfu, he clenched his fists in excitement.
This experimental line of thought was feasible!
To him, there was no more exciting news than this.
Of course, even though the experimental results were gratifying, the experiment itself wasn't optimistic based on the neutron growth rate data.
From their previous experiments, they could only observe the signs of fusion reactions at most. They were still far from being able to use this device to conduct stable and controllable fusion reactions.
Professor Li Changxia stared at the data on the experiment report and said, "The neutron growth rate is still too low. If we want to maintain stable controllable fusion … this level of sound wave might not be enough."
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "You're right, with the current conditions, it is difficult to achieve stable controllable fusion reactions. In order to achieve this, we must change the working fluid. "
Professor Li Changxia: "What kind of working fluid do you plan on trying?"
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I have a possible idea."
"Idea?"
"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Since traditional liquids at room temperature can't meet the requirements, why don't we try liquid metal? For example, liquid lithium, I think it's worth a try … "
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