V. N. Padalko

Study of the d(p, γ)3He reaction at ultralow energies using a zirconium deuteride target

Abstract The mechanism for the d ( p , γ ) 3 He reaction in the region of ultralow proton–deuteron collision energies (6.67 E S -factor and the effective pd reaction cross section on the proton–deuteron collision energy are measured. The results are compared with the available literature data. The results of this work agree with the experimental results obtained by the LUNA collaboration with the target of gaseous deuterium.

Investigation of temperature dependence of neutron yield and electron screening potential for the d(d, n)3He reaction proceeding in deuterides ZrD2 and TiD2

The temperature dependence of the enhancement factor for the dd reaction proceeding in TiD2 and ZrD2 is investigated. The experiments were carried out at the Hall pulsed ion accelerator (INP, Polytechnic University, Tomsk, Russia) in the deuteron energy interval 7.0–12.0 keV and at temperatures ranging from 20 to 200°C. The values obtained for the electron screening potentials indicate that the dd reaction enhancement factor does not depend on the target temperature in the range 20–200°C. This result contradicts the conclusions drawn by the LUNA Collaboration from their work.

Measurement of astrophysical S factors and electron screening potentials for d ( d, n ) 3 He reaction In ZrD 2 , TiD 2 , D 2 O, and CD 2 targets in the ultralow energy region using plasma accelerators

The paper is devoted to study electron screening effect influence on the rate of d(d, n)3He reaction in the ultralow deuteron collision energy range in the deuterated polyethylene (CD2), frozen heavy water (D2O) and deuterated metals (ZrD2 and TiD2). The ZrD2 and TiD2 targets were fabricated via magnetron sputtering of titanium and zirconium in gas (deuterium) environment. The experiments have been carried out using high-current plasma pulsed accelerator with forming of inverse Z pinch (HCEIRAS, Russia) and pulsed Hall plasma accelerator (NPI at TPU, Russia). The detection of neutrons with energy of 2.5MeV from dd reaction was done with plastic scintillation spectrometers. As a result of the experiments the energy dependences of astrophysical S factor for the dd reaction in the deuteron collision energy range of 2–7 keV and the values of the electron screening potential Ue of interacting deuterons have been measured for the indicated above target: Ue(CD2) ⩽ 40 eV; Ue(D2O) ⩽ 26 eV; Ue(ZrD2) = 157 ± 43 eV; Ue(TiD2) = 125±34 eV. The value of astrophysical S factor, corresponding to the deuteron collision energy equal to zero, in the experiments with D2O target is found: Sb(0) = 58.6 ± 3.6 keV b. The paper compares our results with other available published experimental and calculated data.

Effect of the crystal structure of a deuterated target on the yield of neutrons in the dd reaction at ultralow energies

The energy dependence of the neutron yield in the d(d, n)3 He reaction proceeding in a textured titanium deuteride target with the preferred orientation of microcrystals in the [100] direction has been studied. Measurements have been performed for the energy range of incident deuterons of 7–12 keV in the laboratory system. It has been shown that the energy dependence of the enhancement factor of the reaction is described not only by the screening potential but also by the simple inclusion of channeling effects.

Research methods for parameters of accelerated low-energy proton beam

To study the pd-reaction cross-section it is necessary to know the main parameters of the accelerated hydrogen ion beam with a high accuracy. These parameters include: the energy ion dispersion; the content of neutrals; the ratio of atomic and molecular ions of hydrogen in the flux of accelerated particles. This work is aimed at development of techniques and the measurement of the above mentioned parameters of the low-energy proton beam.

Measuring the astrophysical S factors and the cross sections of the p(d, γ)3He reaction in the ultralow energy region using a zirconium deuteride target

The present paper is dedicated to the study of the p(d, γ)3He reaction mechanism with the use of a zirconium deuteride target at proton energies of 11–19 keV. The experiment has been carried out using a proton beam of a high-current pulsed Hall accelerator at the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The dependences of the astrophysical S factor and the effective cross section of the pd reaction on the proton-deuteron collision energy are measured. The results were compared with the available data. The results detailed in the present work agree with the results of an experiment carried out by the LUNA collaboration with the use of a gaseous deuterium target.

Neutron emission during a nanosecond discharge in deuterium in a nonuniform electric field

Neutron emission during a nanosecond deuterium discharge formed at the nonuniform electric field is investigated. A stable neutron yield is observed when the cathode is made of metallic plates covered by a layer of deuterated zirconium and the anode is made of stainless steel in the form of a tube. It is shown that, when the deuterium pressure equals several Torr, neutrons are emitted from both deuterated and deuterium-free cathodes. The influence of the anode design on the neutron yield is studied.

First experimental evidence of D(p, γ) 3 He reaction in titanium deuteride in ultralow collision energy region

The article is devoted to the investigation of a pd-reaction (p + d → 3He + γ(5.5 MeV)) under-going in titanium deuteride in astrophysical collision energy region of protons and deuterons ranging from 5.3 to 10.5 keV. The experiments have been performed using the Hall NR TPU (Tomsk, Russia) pulsed plasma accelerator. The number of accelerated protons in 10 μs pulse was 5 × 1014 at a repetition rate of 7 × 10−2 Hz. Detection of 5.5 MeV gamma rays was carried out using eight detectors based on crystals of NaI(Tl) (100 × 100 × 400 mm) placed around the TiD target. For the first time, the dependencies between the astrophysical S-factor and the effective cross section of the pd-reaction from proton-deuteron collision energy, and the potential electronic screening of the interacting protons and deuterons in titanium deuteride have been measured.

Studying the D(p, γ)3He reaction in zirconium deuteride within the proton energy range of 9–35 keV

This work is dedicated to measuring the dependences of the effective cross section and the astrophysical S factor for the pd reaction that proceeds in zirconium deuteride upon the proton-deuteron collision energy within a range of 6.0–23.3 keV. The experiment was performed using the heavy-current plasma Hall accelerator at the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The gamma quanta produced in the pd reaction with the energy of 5.5 MeV was recorded using eight scintillation spectrometers based on NaI(Tl) crystals (400 × 100 × 100 mm), which were located around the target. The result of this work coincides with the result of our previous work obtained within a range of proton-deuteron collision energies of 7.3–12.7 keV and agrees well with the result obtained by the LUNA collaboration with the use of the gaseous deuterium target.

Search for heavy neutron clusters in nuclear fission

An experiment on search for heavy neutron clusters in fission of 235U nuclei has been carried out on a nuclear reactor. The method of searching for neutron clusters is based on irradiation of tellurium dioxide and lead oxide targets in reactor channels near the active zone and far from it. The method of γ-spectrometric analysis of irradiated targets was used to search for nuclei whose occurrence in the targets cannot be explained by other nuclear reactions, except for the reactions of original target nuclei with neutron clusters. The reactions of tellurium and lead nuclear fission by neutron clusters (nuclei) and direct capture of neutron clusters have been revealed.