Eur. Phys. J. A (2004) 19: 283-287
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2003-10125-0

Enhanced electron screening in d(d,p)t for deuterated metals

¹ Institut für Physik mit Ionenstrahlen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
² Department of Nuclear Physics, China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing, PRC
³ Atomki, Debrecen, Hungary
⁴ School of Physics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Milano and INFN, Milano, Italy
⁶ INFN, Padova, Italy
⁷ Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Universitá Federico II and INFN, Napoli, Italy
⁸ Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Genova and INFN, Genova, Italy
⁹ Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Seconda Universitá di Napoli, Caserta, Italy
¹⁰ Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso dell’INFN, Assergi, Italy
¹¹ Dipartimento di Fisica Sperimentale, Universitá di Torino and INFN, Torino, Italy
¹² Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Ferrara and INFN, Ferrara, Italy
¹³ Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark
¹⁴ Institut für Plasmaphysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

^* e-mail: rolfs@ep3.ruhr.uni-bochum.de

Abstract

The electron screening effect in the d(d,p)t reaction has been studied for deuterated metals, insulators, and semiconductors, i.e. 58 samples in total. As compared to measurements performed with a gaseous D₂ target, a large effect has been observed in most metals, while a small (gaseous) effect is found, e.g., for the insulators, semiconductors, and lanthanides. The periodic table provides the ordering of the observed small and large effects in the samples. An explanation of the large effects in metals is possibly provided by the classical plasma screening of Debye applied to the quasi-free metallic electrons. The data also provide information on the solubility of hydrogen in the samples.