Positron Annihilation in Teflon and Polyethylene

Abstract

Both the time spectra and the angular distributions of the annihilation gamma rays have been measured for positrons annihilating in Teflon and polyethylene in an attempt to clarify which annihilation mechanisms account for the various lifetimes in these materials. Some authors have suggested that, in addition to the longest lifetime component, one of the shorter lived components also arises from the pickoff annihilation of orthopositronium. If this were the case, substantially more positronium would be formed than is indicated by the intensity of the longest lived component alone, and should be detectable through a measurement of the intensity of the low momentum portion of the momentum distribution obtained from the angular correlation data. In the present work, four lifetimes are apparent in the time spectra although there is considerable uncertainty in resolving the two shortest components. The angular distribution data, in both cases, yielded a low momentum component whose intensity indicates that only the longest lifetime component arises from pickoff annihilation of orthopositronium. The three shorter lifetime components are discussed.