A SEARCH FOR NEUTRONS, PROTONS, TRITONS, 3He IONS, GAMMA- AND X-RAYS FROM DEUTERIUM-DEUTERIUM NUCLEAR REACTION IN ELECTROCHEMICALLY CHARGED PALLADIUM

Abstract A search for neutrons, protons, tritons, 3 He ions, γ- and X-rays emitted from D + D fusion in a Pd tube charged electrochemically with deuterium was carried out with a radiation detection system using mainly passive detectors. The system was composed of: (i) an array of six 3 He neutron detectors (total efficiency 0.14%); (ii) a bubble damage polymer neutron detector (1.2 × 10 −4 %); (iii) CR-39/BN-1 neutron detector/radiator (3.2 × 10 −4 %); (iv) CR-39/polyethylene neutron detector/radiator (8.5 × 10 −3 %); (v) CR-39 proton detector (0.17%); (vi) a Ge gamma-ray detector (2.1 × 10 −3 %); (vii) a CaF 2 thermoluminescent detector (8.9 × 10 −3 %). It is shown that the advantage of passive detectors (track-etch, bubble damage) is their ability to integrate fluxes during long exposure without an appreciable increase in the background. The lowest detectable fusion rate in a similar but longer experiment was estimated to be near 10 −25 fusions per DD pair s −1 . Using these detectors we found that the rate of “cold fusion” is −23 (DDp) fusions per DD pair s −1 and −22 (DDn) fusions per DD pair s −1 .