Electron Screening in Deuteron-Deuteron Reactions on a Zr Target with Oxygen and Carbon Contamination

The electron screening effect is responsible for a significant increase in the nuclear reaction rates in metals at very low energies. This is dependent on the local crystal structure of the metallic target and the occurrence of defects or additional elemental impurities in the crystal. Here, we studied the deuteron-deuteron fusion reactions on zirconium targets previously implanted with carbon and oxygen ions. The ²H(d,p)³H reaction yield was measured at two deuteron energies, 8 and 20 keV, in order to determine the strength of the electron screening effect and its dependence on the density of the implanted impurities. We found that carbon implantation strongly reduced the experimentally determined screening energy, while oxygen implantation had the opposite effect. These results are especially important for the application of nuclear fusion in metallic environments at very low energies.