Abstract

Equilibrium charge-state fractions of energetic deuterium ions and atoms emerging from alkaline-earth (magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium) vapor targets are reported in the range of 0.3- to 3-keV incident D+ energy. Deuterium negative-ion production in thick barium and calcium vapor targets equals similar production in cesium vapor (34%). Moreover, the maximum D- production in strontium vapor exceeds that for all other known gas or vapor targets and reaches 50% at 500 eV. Theory does not quantitatively describe these results, although ab initio molecular-interaction-energy calculations on the neutral and negative-ion CaH systems lead to the prediction of large D- yields at low energies. The theoretical prediction is based on the lack of a strong coupling between the negative ion and neutral molecular states. This implies that there are small D- electron-detachment cross sections at energies less than 1 keV. The present measurements agree with previous measurements done at higher energies. © 1982 The American Physical Society.

Department(s)

Physics

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1050-2947

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2023 American Physical Society, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1982

Included in

Physics Commons

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