Enhancement of the electron screening effect for fusion reactions in metallic environments

Institut für Atomare und Analytische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin Sekr. PN 3-1, D-10623 Berlin, Germany

Received: 5 June 2000
Accepted: 8 March 2001

Abstract

To study the electron screening of nuclear reactions in metallic environments, angular distributions and thick target yields of the fusion reactions ²H(d,p)³H and ²H(d,n)³He have been measured on deuterons implanted in three different metal targets (Al, Zr and Ta) for beam energies ranging from 5 to 60 keV. The experimentally determined values of the screening energy are about one order of magnitude larger than the value achieved in a gas target experiment and significantly larger than the theoretical predictions. A clear target material dependence of the screening energy has been established.