A search for evidence of cold fusion in the direct implantation of palladium and indium with deuterium

Abstract

A high concentration of deuterium atoms was implanted into palladium and indium targets by means of a 60 keV, 100 μA [Formula: see text] beam. The motivation was to simulate the Utah electrolysis experiment in a nonequilibrium situation not involving heavy water as the intermediate material. The assumption was that the formation of a high concentration of deuterium nuclei in the surface region of the target material was a prerequisite for the demonstration of the so-called "cold fusion" effect. In experiments performed at the Accelerator Centre of the University of Manitoba, significant neutron production was observed for palladium and indium targets into which an excess of 1019 deuterons were implanted. Despite some initial surprise at the flux of neutrons generated at such low energies, the numbers observed seem consistent with known fusion cross sections and warm fusion calculations.