Coulomb explosion of deuterium cationic clusters

Journal Article · Sun Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 2003 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.68.065201· OSTI ID:20640557

Howard, I A ^[1]; Alonso, J A ^[2]; March, N H ^[1]; Rubio, A ^[2]; Van Alsenoy, C ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp (Belgium)
2. Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), E-20018 San Sebastian (Spain)
3. Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium)

The recent experiments of Zweiback et al. on deuterium clusters irradiated with intense laser beams yielded D-D fusion. This has motivated us to carry out quantum-chemical calculations on a number of deuterium clusters, both neutral and cationic. For doubly charged clusters, in particular D{sub 31}{sup 2+}, and plainly for more highly charged assemblies, Coulomb explosion of the cluster is in evidence. The quantum-chemical results we present strongly suggest that fragmentation occurs with small groups of deuterium atoms breaking away from the main cluster, such as to leave both small and large fragments with a net charge not exceeding + vertical bar e vertical bar.

• OSTI ID: 20640557
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 68; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMIC CLUSTERS
ATOMS
DEUTERIUM
DISSOCIATION
EXPLOSIONS
HARTREE-FOCK METHOD
IRRADIATION
LASER RADIATION