标题： 在使用钯电极的低电压直流氘放电中检测α辐射 显示英文标题

标题： On the detection of alpha emission from a low-voltage DC deuterium discharge with palladium electrodes

摘要： 在低电压直流氘气放电中使用钯电极的核反应可能性被讨论。 已知的固态核径迹探测器CR-39被选用以研究从电极发出的高能带电粒子。 开发了一个部分自动化的成像平台和特征分类过程，用于扫描CR-39表面并检测径迹。 典型的放电参数为10托尔氘气，5-7毫米电极间距，20-40毫安/平方厘米$^2$的电流密度，以及-500$\pm$100伏的阴极偏压。 在对不同离子阴极通量进行放电处理后，CR-39中形成的径迹始终对应于从钯电极发出的138$\pm$21千电子伏的α粒子。 氘气放电的径迹密度通常比氢气和氦气的对照组高出$\sim$100倍。 目前，尚无已知的机制可以在装置内将离子加速到这些能量。 产生高能α粒子而没有氦源或加速离子到如此高能量的方法表明其具有核起源。 根据基于径迹几何结构的粒子轨迹估计，得出结论认为反应起源于钯电极，而不是来自外部来源如大气氡或宇宙射线。 显示英文摘要

摘要： The possibility of nuclear reactions within a low voltage DC deuterium discharge with palladium electrodes is addressed. The solid-state nuclear track detector known as CR-39 was chosen to investigate the emission of energetic charged particles from the electrodes. A partially automated imaging platform and feature classification process was developed to scan the CR-39 surface and detect tracks. Typical discharge parameters were 10 Torr deuterium, 5-7 mm electrode gap distance, 20-40 mA/cm$^2$ current density, and -500 $\pm$ 100 V cathode bias. After discharge treatments to varied ion-cathode fluences, tracks formed in CR-39 which consistently corresponded to 138 $\pm$ 21 keV alpha particles emitted from the palladium electrodes. The track densities for deuterium discharges were often $\sim$100 times above controls with hydrogen and helium. Currently, there are no known mechanisms to accelerate ions to these energies within the apparatus. The production of energetic alpha particles with no source of helium or a means to accelerate the ions to such high energies indicate a nuclear origin. From particle trajectory estimates based on track geometries, it was concluded the reactions originated at the Pd electrodes and not from external sources such as atmospheric radon or cosmic rays.