Proton boron (pB) fusion (11B + p RIGHTWARDS ARROW 3 + 8.7 MeV) has recently been investigated in plasmas triggered by high-power laser pulses interacting with H/B-rich targets. To optimize the reaction rate in terms of alpha particle flux, it is necessary to control the target composition and morphology.
This work reviews the state of the art in this field and shows the first results obtained using magnetron sputtering and physical vapor thermal deposition (PVTD) for the preparation of thin films of B and oligoethylenes.