322 research outputs found
Enhancement of the Deuteron-Fusion Reactions in Metals and its Experimental Implications
Recent measurements of the reaction d(d,p)t in metallic environments at very
low energies performed by different experimental groups point to an enhanced
electron screening effect. However, the resulting screening energies differ
strongly for divers host metals and different experiments. Here, we present new
experimental results and investigations of interfering processes in the
irradiated targets. These measurements inside metals set special challenges and
pitfalls which make them and the data analysis particularly error-prone. There
are multi-parameter collateral effects which are crucial for the correct
interpretation of the observed experimental yields. They mainly originate from
target surface contaminations due to residual gases in the vacuum as well as
from inhomogeneities and instabilities in the deuteron density distribution in
the targets. In order to address these problems an improved differential
analysis method beyond the standard procedures has been implemented. Profound
scrutiny of the other experiments demonstrates that the observed unusual
changes in the reaction yields are mainly due to deuteron density dynamics
simulating the alleged screening energy values. The experimental results are
compared with different theoretical models of the electron screening in metals.
The Debye-H\"{u}ckel model that has been previously proposed to explain the
influence of the electron screening on both nuclear reactions and radioactive
decays could be clearly excluded.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, REVTeX4, 2-column format. Submitted to Phys.
Rev. C; accepte
Quantum mechanical ab-initio simulation of the electron screening effect in metal deuteride crystals
In antecedent experiments the electron screening energies of the d+d
reactions in metallic environments have been determined to be enhanced by an
order of magnitude in comparison to the case of gaseous deuterium targets. The
analytical models describing averaged material properties have not been able to
explain the experimental results so far. Therefore, a first effort has been
undertaken to simulate the dynamics of reacting deuterons in a metallic lattice
by means of an ab-initio Hartree-Fock calculation of the total electrostatic
force between the lattice and the successively approaching deuterons via path
integration. The calculations have been performed for Li and Ta, clearly
showing a migration of electrons from host metallic to the deuterium atoms.
However, in order to avoid more of the necessary simplifications in the model
the utilization of a massive parallel supercomputer would be required.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, svjour class. To be published in Eur. Phys. J.
Femtosecond dynamics snapshots of the early ion track evolution
The energy dissipation and femtosecond dynamics due to fast heavy ions in matter is critically reviewed with emphasis on possible mechanisms that lead to materials modi cations. Starting from a discussion of the initial electronic energy deposition processes, three basic mechanisms for the conversion of electronic into atomic energy are investigated by means of Auger electron spectroscopy. Results for amorphous Si, amorphous C and polypropylene are presented and discussed. Experimental evidence for a highly charged track region as well as for hot electrons inside tracks is shown. As follows mainly from Auger electron spectroscopy, there are strong indications for di erent track production mechanisms in di erent material
Evidence for moving breathers in a layered crystal insulator at 300K
We report the ejection of atoms at a crystal surface caused by energetic
breathers which have travelled more than 10^7 unit cells in atomic chain
directions. The breathers were created by bombardment of a crystal face with
heavy ions. This effect was observed at 300K in the layered crystal muscovite,
which has linear chains of atoms for which the surrounding lattice has C_2
symmetry. The experimental techniques described could be used to study
breathers in other materials and configurations.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Search for short time phase effects in the electronic damage evolution A case study with silicon
This work focusses on the production and decay properties of inner shell vacancies and valence band excitations induced by swift highly charged ions interacting with amorphous and crystalline Si. High resolution electron spectra have been taken for fast heavy ions at 1.78 5 MeV u as well as for electrons of similar velocity incident on atomically clean Si targets of well defined phase. Various Augerelectron structures are analyzed concerning their width, their intensity and exact peak position. All measured peaks show a small shift towards lower energy when the charge of the projectile is increased. This finding is an indication for a nuclear track potential inside the ion track. A detailed analysis of the Auger electron spectra for amorphous Si and crystalline Si 111 7 x 7 points to a small but significant phase effect in the short time dynamics of ion track
High-energy electron measurements with thin Si detectors
A technique for measuring high-energy electrons using Si detectors of various
thicknesses that are much smaller than the range of the examined electrons is
presented. The advantages of the method are discussed on the basis of
electron-positron pair creation recently studied in deuteron-deuteron fusion
reactions at very low energies. Careful Geant 4 Monte Carlo simulations enabled
the identification of the main spectral contributions of emitted electrons and
positrons resulting from the energy loss mechanisms and scattering processes
within the target, detector and their holders. Significant changes in the
intensity of the detected electrons, depending on the detector thickness and
the thicknesses of absorption foils placed in the front of the detector could
be observed. The corresponding correction factors have been calculated and can
be used for different applications in basic and applied research
Ultrafast electronic processes in an insulator The Be and O sites in BeO
The short time dynamics of amorphous beryllium oxide a BeO has been investigated for electronic excitation ionization by fast incident electrons, as well as by Ar7 , Ar15 , Xe15 , and Xe31 ions at velocities of 6 10 the speed of light. Site specific Auger electron spectra induced by fast heavy ions are the central point of this investigation. Electron induced Auger spectra serve as a reference and electron energy loss EELS spectroscopy as well as resonant inelastic X ray scattering RIXS are invoked for quantitative understanding. For the heavy ion case, we observe strong variations in the corresponding spectral distributions of Be K and O K Auger lines. These are related to local changes of the electron density, of the electron temperature and even of the electronic band structure of BeO on a femtosecond time scale after the passage of highly charged heavy ions
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