High Yield of Alpha Particles Generated in Proton-Boron Nuclear Fusion Reactions Induced in Solid Boron Hydride B${}_{18}$H${}_{22}$

The use of solid boron hydride molecules as a fuel for proton-boron fusion was proposed by M. Krůs and M. Londesborough at “Interaction of Inorganic Clusters, Cages, and Containers with Light” workshop in November 2021. Here we demonstrate experimentally, for first time, that the solid boron hydride, octadecaborane - $\mathit{\text{anti}}$-B${}_{18}$H${}_{22}$, produces a relatively high yield of alpha particles of about ${10}^9$ per steradian using a sub-nanosecond, low-contrast laser pulse (PALS) with a typical intensity of ${10}^{16}$ Wcm${}^{-2}$. In contrast to previously published proton-boron studies, the boron hydrides, due to their composition containing only atoms of boron and hydrogen, represent a natural choice for future proton-boron nuclear fusion schemes.