Deuteron fusion experiment with Ti and Pb foils implanted with deuteron beams

In order to examine the 'cold' deuteron fusion reaction, we have tried making deuteron implantation experiments on Ti and Pd foils. A 20 cmΦ x 24 cm cylinder-type vacuum chamber was installed at the end section of a 240 keV deuteron accelerator. In the center of the chamber, a Ti or Pd foil sample was set to face toward 3 nsec pulsed deuteron beams collimated with a 3 mmΦ aperture. A Si-SSD was placed behind the foil sample for the measurement of high energy charged particles emitted from the foil by the supposed deuteron fusion reactions. During the deuteron implantation for a 19 μm thick Pd foil, almost all signals came from the well-known D-D reaction but an unusual peak was measured around 5 MeV after the implantation, i.e., without deuteron beams. Also an inexplicable 8 MeV helium peak was measured during the deuteron implantation for 20 μm thick Ti foils with aluminum-oxide layer on their surface. These 5 and 8 MeV peaks seem to suggest the following three-body fusion reaction which A. Takahashi proposed as a hypothetical explanation of the mechanism of the cold fusion phenomena: 3D → d(15.9 MeV) + α(7.9 MeV), t(4.75 MeV) + 3He(4.75 MeV). Further implantation experiments on characterized foil samples and more detailed measurements for the identification of the 5 MeV particles and for the precise detection of the 15.9 MeV deuteron correlated with the 7.9 MeV α and others are needed to prove the 3D fusion reaction. (author)