Hot deuteron generation and charged particle emissions on excitation of deuterium subsystem in metal deuterides

Statistically significant emissions of DD-reaction products, 3 MeV protons and high-energy alpha particles (11-20 MeV) were observed in specially prepared Pd/PdO:D_x and TiD_x targets in vacuum, stimulated by electron beam (J ∼ 0.6 mA/cm², U = 30 keV). These charge particles' energies and identities were determined using a set of CR-39 detectors covered with various metal foils. In contrast, the Pd/PdO:D _x and the TiD_x samples show no sign of nuclear emissions in vacuum without e-beam stimulation. Extrapolation of both DD-reaction cross section and the enhancement factor (consistent with a calculated screening potential U_e = 750 eV) to very low deuteron energy satisfactorily describes the detected DD-reaction yield in Pd/PdO:D_x targets, under the assumption of hot deuteron (<E_d> ∼ 3.0 eV) generation under e-beam bombardment. This result strongly supports the theoretical prediction (1, 2) for electron excitation of the D-subsystem in Pd-deuterides.