Acceleration of Deuteron Ions from Thin Foil Targets in the Absence of Contaminant Layer Protons and Carbon*

We will present the results of a recent deuteron ion acceleration experiment in which the proton and carbon ion acceleration was almost entirely suppressed. The peak deuteron energy was 3.1 MeV. The deuteron ions were accelerated from the rear surface of a laser-irradiated thin foil by the target-normal-sheath-acceleration mechanism. These ions may be used to bombard a deuteron-rich secondary target to liberate 2.45 MeV neutrons through D(d,n)He$^3$ fusion. The experiments were carried out at the SCARLET laser facility at The Ohio State University and the GHOST laser at University of Texas.