Abstract Using 17 MeV deuterons as a micrometer focused primary beam, we performed deuterium microscopy by using the deuteron-deuteron (dd) scattering reaction. We describe our new box like detector setup consisting of four double sided silicon strip detectors (DSSSD) with 16 strips on each side, each covering up to 0.5 sr solid angle for coincidence detection. This method becomes a valuable tool for studies of hydrogen incorporation or dynamic processes using deuterium tagging. The background from natural hydrocarbon or water contamination is reduced by the factor 150 ppm of natural abundance of deuterium in hydrogen. Deuterium energies of up to 25 MeV, available at the microprobe SNAKE, are ideal for the analysis of thin freestanding samples so that the scattered particles are transmitted to the detector. The differential cross section for the elastic scattering reaction is about the same as for pp-scattering ( 100 mb/sr). The main background due to nuclear reactions is outside the energy window of interest. Deuteron-proton (dp) scattering events give an additional signal for hydrogen atoms, so the H/D-ratio can be monitored in parallel.    «

Abstract Using 17 MeV deuterons as a micrometer focused primary beam, we performed deuterium microscopy by using the deuteron-deuteron (dd) scattering reaction. We describe our new box like detector setup consisting of four double sided silicon strip detectors (DSSSD) with 16 strips on each side, each covering up to 0.5 sr solid angle for coincidence detection. This method becomes a valuable tool for studies of hydrogen incorporation or dynamic processes using deuterium tagging. The background f...    »