Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Absolute Quantum Yield Measurement of Powder Samples
Published on: May 12, 2012
Quantum Diffusion of Deuterium in Sodium
Vladimir Vykhodets1, Olga Nefedova2, Tatiana Kurennykh1
1M. N. Mikheev Institute of Metal Physics , Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences , 18 S. Kovalevskoy Street , Yekaterinburg 620137 , Russia.
Abstract:
The online nuclear reaction analysis technique has been applied to study the temperature dependence of deuterium diffusion coefficients for deuterium in sodium at temperatures ranging between 110 and 240 K, and at cryogenic temperatures, below 160 K, tunneling of deuterium atoms in the metal lattice has been observed. Above 160 K, diffusion occurs by the classical mechanism of overbarrier atomic jumps. Results of quantum diffusion of deuterium in a metal have been obtained for the first time; they used to be known only for the lightest hydrogen isotope, protium, in niobium and tantalum. The analysis has shown that the necessary condition for carrying out the quantum mechanism of deuterium migration is low Debye temperature of a metal, below 200 K. Experimental data on diffusion of hydrogen isotope in an alkali metal have also been obtained for the first time in this paper.
Related Concept Videos
Quantum Numbers
Diffusion
Diffusion
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
Regulation of Sodium and Potassium
Sodium Regulation
Sodium ions make up approximately 90% of extracellular cations, with a normal blood plasma concentration of 136–148 mEq/L. A decrease in blood volume and pressure triggers the release of renin from granular cells in the juxtaglomerular complex (JGC), primarily...
¹H NMR of Labile Protons: Deuterium (²H) Substitution

