Electron screening in 7Li(p,α)α and 6Li(p,α)3He for different environments

• DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2005.08.036
• Publication Date: 2005-08-23T18:13:25Z
• Authors: J. Cruz; Z. Fülöp; G. Gyürky; F. Raiola; A. Di Leva; B. Limata; M. Fonseca; H. Luis; D. Schürmann; M. Aliotta; H.W. Becker; A.P. Jesus; K.U. Kettner; J.P. Ribeiro; C. Rolfs; M. Romano; E. Somorjai; F. Strieder
• Keywords: Nuclear and High Energy Physics; 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy

Abstract The electron screening in the 7Li ( p , α ) α reaction has been studied at E p = 30 to 100 keV for different environments: Li2WO4 insulator, Li metal, and PdLi alloys. For the insulator a screening potential energy of U e = 185 ± 150 eV was observed, consistent with previous work and the atomic adiabatic limit. However, for the Li metal and the PdLi alloys we find large values of U e = 1280 ± 60 and 3790 ± 330 eV , respectively: the values can be explained by the plasma model of Debye applied to the quasi-free metallic electrons in these samples. Similar results have been found for the 6Li ( p , α ) 3 He reaction supporting the hypothesis of the isotopic independence of the electron screening effect. The data together with previous studies of d ( d , p ) t and 9Be ( p , α ) 6 Li in metals verify the Debye model scaling U e ∝ Z t (charge number of target).