Temperature Dependence of Electron Screening at Low Energy
- Received Date: 2005-03-28
- Accepted Date: 1900-01-01
- Available Online: 2005-12-05
Abstract: For a deep understanding of the electron screening effects, we cooperated with the astrophysics group of Ruhr University to study the electron screening in the d(d,p)t reaction for the deuterated metals of groups 3 and 4 of the periodic table and the lanthanides, at a sample temperature T=200\textcelsius, using the D3+ beams provided by the 100kV accelerator of Dynamitron-Tandem-Laboratorium. The hydrogen solubility in the samples dropped to a level of a few percent (compared to T=20\textcelsius) and a large screening became observable. With the classical plasma model of Debye applied to the quasi-free metallic electrons, the deduced number of valence electrons per metallic atom agrees with the corresponding number from the Hall coefficient, for all metals investigated. Finally, we measured the screening for the metals Co and Pt as a function of sample temperature, in part between T=20\textcelsius and 340\textcelsius. The data agree with the Debye model; they represent the first observation of a temperature dependence of a nuclear cross section.