Resonances in positron-atom scattering

Theoretical studies of atomic resonances involving positrons will be discussed in this talk. Investigations on resonances in positron-hydrogen scattering below various hydrogen and positronium thresholds are reviewed, as well as resonances in positronalkali and e⁺-He⁺ scattering. Resonance phenomena in other atomic systems involving positrons will also be discussed. These systems include positronium ions Ps⁻, positronium molecules Ps₂, and positronium hydride PsH.     

Thermal activation measurement of positron binding energies at surfaces

The formation of positronium by low-energy positrons incident on “clean” metal surfaces is thermally activated by increasing temperature. The activation energy E_a has been measured for a number of surfaces. E_a is understood as the energy required to form positronium (binding energy 1/2Ry) from positrons bound at the surface by an energy E_b, E_a = E_b+φ_-? 1/2Ry, where φ_- is the electron work function. Representative values of E_b derived are Al(100):3.03(5) eV; Al(110):2.92(4) eV; Cu(111):2.80(5) eV.     

Positronium spectroscopy at a LINAC-based slow positron source

The slow positron facility TEPOS at the Giessen electron LINAC (36 MeV, 120 μA) has been used to produce an intense beam of moderated positrons which is magnetically guided over a distance of 9 m. At a transportation energy of 100 eV about 10⁶ slow e⁺/s could be extracted out of the magnetic field (0.01 T) and have been electrostatically focussed inside a microwave guide. A small fraction of the positrons form positronium in the excited staten=2. The spontaneous emission of Lyman-α photons (λ=243 nm) from the 2P-states is observed by a photomultiplier. Microwave induced fine-structure transitions 2³S₁?2³P_2,1,0 have been observed at 8617(2), 13010(3) and 18494(2) MHz by an increase of the Lyman-α counting rate. The present errors take into consideration only statistical contributions; systematic errors in the same order of magnitude may originate from frequency dependent variations of the microwave power. The observed linewidth exceeds the natural linewidth of 50 MHz by Doppler-effect and power broadening. Values around 100 MHz could be reached at the lowest applied power levels.     

Positron moderation and remoderation techniques for producing cold positron and positronium sources

We review the physics of the negative affinity and hot-positron moderators that allow us to produce intense beams of slow positrons. By repeated staes of remoderation a positron beam can be focused to a microscopic spot on a solid target with little loss of intensity. The positronium (Ps) and positronium negative ions (Ps⁻) produced by such a spot will be bright enough to permit the formation of well-collimated Ps beams suitable for gravitational free fall and other experiments.     

Concept of a 6-T Penning trap at liquid-He temperature for the accumulation of positrons

High densities of ultra cold positrons are required for applications such as positronium production, scattering processes with atoms, surface analysis, cooling of highly charged ions and antihydrogen production. At the University of Aarhus, Denmark, an accelerator based slow positron source delivers about 5 × 10⁴ positrons within a 10 ns bunch at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The energy spread is below 1 eV and the beam diameter is about 1 mm. The positron bunches shall be injected into a 6-T Penning trap at the temperature of liquid helium. The bunches can be captured at nearly 100% efficiency by a fast time variation of the trap potential. The cyclotron motion cools down by synchrotron radiation with a time constant of 80 ms. The axial motion can be cooled by coupling to the radial motion or by resistive cooling in a tuned circuit. By stacking of 100 pulses about 5 × 10⁶ positrons can be accumulated within 10 s. After this time most of the positrons have cooled down sufficiently that the trapping cycle can be started again. At the anticipated accumulation rate a positron plasma at the space charge limit should be obtainable within 1 h. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Surface and bulk investigations at the high intensity positron beam facility NEPOMUC

The NEutron-induced POsitron source MUniCh (NEPOMUC) at the research reactor FRM II delivers a low-energy positron beam (E = 15-1000 eV) of high intensity in the range between 4 × 10⁷ and 5 × 10⁸ moderated positrons per second. At present four experimental facilities are in operation at NEPOMUC: a coincident Doppler-broadening spectrometer (CDBS) for defect spectroscopy and investigations of the chemical vicinity of defects, a positron annihilation-induced Auger-electron spectrometer (PAES) for surface studies and an apparatus for the production of the negatively charged positronium ion Ps⁻. Recently, the pulsed low-energy positron system (PLEPS) has been connected to the NEPOMUC beam line, and first positron lifetime spectra were recorded within short measurement times. A positron remoderation unit which is operated with a tungsten single crystal in back reflection geometry has been implemented in order to improve the beam brilliance. An overview of NEPOMUC's status, experimental results and recent developments at the running spectrometers are presented.     

Annihilation of positrons in aluminium oxide and phase transformations in this compound

Measurements have been made of the angular correlation N(θ) of positron annihilation quanta, the triquanta annihilation intensity I_3γ by the peak-to-peak method, and the average lifetimes of positrons in A1₂O₃. The measured quantities depend on the temperature at which the Al₂O₃ was obtained. It is assumed that there are two conversion centers of ortho -Ps. One is molecular oxygen adsorbed on the oxide surface and the other is the O^? ion which exists in A1₂O₃ obtained at lower temperatures, both on the surface and in the interior of the grains. The temperature ranges have been determined within which the changes in properties of the oxide with respect to the annihilation of positrons, occur slowly as well as those within which the changes occur rapidly. Among these properties are the vanishing of the postulated O^? ions with rise in temperature a probable diffusion of aluminium ions, and the vanishing of vacancies in the lattice structure (I_Ps). From the measurements of the rate characteristics the complete annihilation intensity I_xxx was calculated within the range from 0.34 to 96ns, and also annihilation intensity from para states of positronium I_p.     

Narrow beam emission of slow positrons from negative affinity surfaces

We have measured the angular distribution of the slow positrons (e⁺·) from negative work function (φ⁺) surfaces of Cu and Al bombarded by keV e⁺ in ultrahigh vacuum. In analogy with √-point electrons emitted from negative electron affinity surfaces, the majority (>50%) of the slow e⁺ leave the surface with energy ≈ φ⁺ and velocity within ～20° of the surface normal. This agrees qualitatively with the predictions of a simple 1D model.     

Positron-lithium scattering with the inclusion of positronium formation

Detailed studies have been made of elastic scattering and positronium formation in low energy collisions of positrons with lithium atoms for the two partial wavesl=0,1. For this system, as for all alkali atoms, the positronium formation channel is open even at zero positron energy. A two-channel version of the Kohn variational method is used with trial functions containing many variational parameters, and reasonably well converged results are obtained. The s-wave positronium formation cross section is infinite at zero positron energy but it then falls rapidly to become several orders of magnitude smaller than the elastic scattering cross section which has a maximum value of approximately 100 ₀ ² at a positron energy of 0.5 eV. For p-wave scattering the positronium formation cross section rises to a value of approximately 10 ₀ ² at an energy of 0.1 eV, with the elastic scattering cross section rising to a maximum of approximately 60 ₀ ² just below the first excitation threshold at 1.84 eV.     

Photoemission of positronium from Si

We have observed that the amount of positronium (Ps) emitted from the surface of p-Si(100) is substantially increased if the sample is irradiated with 532 nm laser light just prior to the implantation of positrons. The energy of the emitted Ps has a constant value of ～0.16 eV and is independent of the Si temperature and the applied laser fluence, while the photoemission yield depends on both of these parameters. These observations are consistent with Ps production via a previously observed excitonlike positron surface state that is populated in response to the production of electron-hole pairs in the Si. Possible applications of Ps photoemission include probing surface electron dynamics on Si, the generation of ultrashort Ps or positron pulses using ps lasers, and efficient production of Ps in cryogenic environments.     

Positronium formation from silver

Characterization of a positronium (Ps) gas target to be used for the charge conjugate reaction for antihydrogen formation [1], namely proton + Ps-atom → hydrogen + positron, has been performed [2–4]. In the above collision the Ps target utilised is produced efficiently on the transmission side of a hot thin (1900 Å) Ag(100) foil with 12% efficiency at 800 K foil temperature, with a mean velocity of thermally activated Ps of 1.2×10⁵ m/s and with a maximum kinetic energy of prompt emitted Ps of 1.5±0.2 eV.     

Positronium formation in positron-helium collisions with a screened Coulomb interaction

A study is conducted on positronium (Ps) formation in positron-helium collisions under the effect of a Coulomb screening, e⁺ + He(1s ²) ?? Ps(100) + He⁺(100), using the second-order distorted-wave approximation (DWA) and taking into consideration the screened dipole polarisation potential at low and intermediate incident positron energies in the range, 6 ? 500 eV. The theoretical model for the scattering calculation is fairly accurate and predicts a number of interesting features in the total and differential cross sections for the screening parameter, ?? = 0.0?0.4. The existence of resonances in the S-, P-, D- and F-partial waves has been reported in this work. Surface plots of the total and differential cross sections have also been presented to illustrate the interesting nature of the Ps formation in this scattering process.     

Positron annihilation study of voids in a neutron irradiated aluminum single crystal

We have measured the lifetimes of positrons in an aluminum single crystal which was irradiated to a fast neutron fluence of 1.5·10²¹ n/cm² (>0.18 MeV) at 50°C. These irradiation conditions produced 4.2·10¹⁴ voids/cm³ with a mean diameter of 330 Å, as determined by both small-angle x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The positron lifetime spectra were resolved into three lifetime components of 100, 300, and 500 ps. The short lifetime component is a result of fast trapping of positrons by the voids; the long lifetime components result from annihilations within the voids. The intensity of the long lifetime components increases with temperature in the range 80 to 300 K and supports the model of a positron state at the void surface. The positron diffusion coefficient appears to have aT ^1/2-dependence. A magnetic quenching experiment shows no indication of positronium formation. Finally, an isochronal heat treating sequence shows that the voids anneal out between 200 and 300°C, and that the lifetime spectrum after annealing is described by a single component of 170 ps, the observed lifetime in unirradiated aluminum.     

Photodetachment of the Positronium Negative Ion with Exponential Cosine-Screened Coulomb Potentials

We have made an investigation to study the photodetachment of positronium negative ion (Ps ⁻) interacting with exponential cosine-screened Coulomb potentials (ECSCP) within the framework of dipole approximation. The dipole transition matrix elements are calculated using the asymptotic form of highly accurate initial wave function of the bound ionic state and plane wave for final electron–positronium state. Results for photodetachment cross section in ECSCP are reported for the screening parameter in the range [0.0,0.35] (in a₀^-1{a_0^{-1}}). Our results for the unscreened case agree nicely with some of the most accurate results available in the literature. Furthermore we make a comparative study of the photodetachment of Ps ⁻ in ECSCP with the photodetachment of Ps ⁻ in screened Coulomb potential. To the best of our knowledge, such a study on the photodetachment of Ps ⁻ in ECSCP is carried out for the first time in the literature.     

Study of the violation of parity in nuclear β-decay via a relative β-polarization measurement with polarized107In nuclei

The first measurements of the longitudinal polarization of positrons emitted by polarized¹⁰⁷In are reported. The positron polarization is deduced from the time-resolved decay spectrum of positronium hyerfine states. Our result is in agreement with the standard electroweak model and provides a new lower limit for the mass of an eventual, predominantly right-handed charged W gauge boson of 220 GeV/c ².Also at Université Catholique de Louvain.     

Positron annihilation study of voids in a neutron irradiated aluminum single crystal

We have measured the lifetimes of positrons in an aluminum single crystal which was irradiated to a fast neutron fluence of 1.5·10²¹ n/cm² (>0.18 MeV) at 50°C. These irradiation conditions produced 4.2·10¹⁴ voids/cm³ with a mean diameter of 330 ?, as determined by both small-angle x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The positron lifetime spectra were resolved into three lifetime components of 100, 300, and 500 ps. The short lifetime component is a result of fast trapping of positrons by the voids; the long lifetime components result from annihilations within the voids. The intensity of the long lifetime components increases with temperature in the range 80 to 300 K and supports the model of a positron state at the void surface. The positron diffusion coefficient appears to have aT ^1/2-dependence. A magnetic quenching experiment shows no indication of positronium formation. Finally, an isochronal heat treating sequence shows that the voids anneal out between 200 and 300°C, and that the lifetime spectrum after annealing is described by a single component of 170 ps, the observed lifetime in unirradiated aluminum. Research sponsored in part by the U.S.Atomic Energy Commission under contract with the Union Carbide Corporation.     

Decay of the positronium molecule into a positronium atom and photons

Decays of the positronium molecule Ps₂ into para- or orthopositronium Ps in the ground state and photons are investigated. The differential probabilities of the decays are determined. The total probabilitiesw _2γ ^(Ps2) andw _3γ ^(Ps2) of Ps₂ annihilation with the production of two and three photons and positronium are calculated to be $$w_{2\gamma }^{(P_{S_2 } )} = 1.6 \cdot 10^{10} \sec ^{ - 1} ,w_{3\gamma }^{(P_{S_2 } )} = 0.43 \cdot 10^8 \sec ^{ - 1} $$ . The curve of the angular correlation of the γ rays on the decay of Ps₂ into two photons and parapositronium is studied. The width of this curve is Δ¦P¦=0.128 a.u. (¦P¦ is the total photon momentum), which corresponds to a deviation of the emission angle of the γ rays from π: θ ? 0.934 mrad. The maximum in the distribution of the photons with respect to the momenta ¦P¦ in the center of mass of the annihilating pair is attained at ¦P¦=0.175 a.u. The calculations were made on an M-222 computer, and their accuracy is determined by the choice of the wave function of the positronium molecule and the accuracy in the computer calculation of the integrals.     

A theoretical study of low-energy position diffraction

In an exploratory study of the diffraction of slow positrons from atoms and single-crystal surfaces, theoretical intensity and spin polarization results from a W crystal-atom and a W(001) surface are compared to corresponding electron diffraction results obtained with and without an exchange potential. In contrast to e^- diffraction, significant spin polarization effects are found for e⁺ only at energies above about 100 eV. The computing time for e⁺ is about half of the time required for e^-.     

Determination of the positron diffusion length in Kapton by analysing the positronium emission

Doppler profile spectroscopy and Compton-to-peak ratio analysis have been used to study the positronium (Ps) emission from the Kapton surface as a function of the positron implantation energy E.Two different positions for the sample have been performed in the experiment.In the first case the sample and the Ge-detector are perpendicular to the positron beam. With this geometry the emission of para-positronium (p-Ps) is detected as a narrow central peak.In the second case, by rotating the sample 45° with respect to the beam axis, the emission of p-Ps is detected as a blue-shifted fly away peak. The implantation of the positrons is described by the Makhov profile, where we used the modified median implantation for polymers as given by Algers et al. [J. Algers, P. Sperr, W. Egger, G. Kögel, F.H.J. Maurer, Phys. Rev. B 67 (2003) 125404].Thermalised positrons can diffuse to the surface and may pick up an electron to be emitted as Ps. We found a thermal and or epithermal positron diffusion length L₊ = 5.43 ± 0.71 nm and L₊ = 5.51 ± 0.28 nm correspondingly for both cases, which is much more than the one found by Brusa et al. [R.S. Brusa, A. Dupasquier, E. Galvanetto, A. Zecca, Appl. Phys. A 54 (1992) 233]. The respective efficiency for the emission of Ps by picking up an electron from the surface is found to be f_pu = 0.247 ± 0.012 and f_pu = 0.156 ± 0.003.     

Correlations between electron and positron workfunctions on copper surfaces

We have performed contact potential difference measurements on low-index faces of copper in ultrahigh vacuum using positrons as positive test particles in a retarding field analyzer. For negative positron affinity surfaces bombarded with keV positrons we also measured energy distributions of reemitted slow positrons and found them to sharply peaked in energy about a value which we label ?φ⁺. Both adsorbing sulfur on a Cu(111) sample and raising its temperature cause changes in φ⁺ which are equal and opposite to the contact potential change of the sample, i.e. the electron workfunction change. This result is in complete accordance with φ⁺ being a measure of the negative positron workfunction of the sample and high temperature or adsorbates inducing a change only in the electrostatic surface dipole layer.