Initiation of Nuclear Fusion Reactions in Metal-Deuterium and Metal-Deuterium + Tritium Systems by Bombardment with Noble Gas Ions

An experimental study confirms the possibility of initiating nuclear fusion reactions in metal-deuterium targets by bombarding them with ions that are not the reagents of the fusion reaction, in particular, with noble gas ions. The yields of (d, d) and (d, t) reactions were determined as functions of energy (0.4 to 3.2 MeV) and mass of incident ions (He⁺, Ne⁺, Ar⁺, Kr⁺, and Xe⁺). It is shown that at ion energies of ∼0.1 to 1 MeV, the yields of these reactions are rather high (10⁻¹⁰ to 10⁻⁷ event/ion), and they can be increased by raising the incident ion energy, by an appropriate choice of the target. Practical applications of the effect are discussed.