Neutron measurement during crushing of LiNbO3 crystals in D2 and H2 atmospheres
Masatoshi Fujii1, Kazumasa Kobayashi2, Yasuyuki Taniuchi3, Kenta Takeuchi4, Michiaki Utsumi4, Masami Chiba5, Toshiaki Shirakawa6, Tomoko Hashimoto7 and Fumio Shiraishi7
Published 23 October 2017 • © 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics
Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 56, Number 11
A study of mechano-nuclear fusion during the crushing of dielectric crystals of LiNbO3 was carried out in three different atmospheres, D2 (101 kPa), H2 (101 kPa), and vacuum (1 Pa). The number of neutrons emitted during the nuclear fusion reaction was counted in a low background-neutron environment, 6.49 ± 0.02 counts/h, using 16 3He neutron counters with a detection efficiency of 8.6%. The observed neutron counts (±σ) during crushing in D2, H2, and vacuum were 6.39 ± 0.24 counts/h (111 h), 6.87 ± 0.20 counts/h (169 h), 5.92 ± 0.26 counts/h (89 h), respectively. The excess counts of neutrons were 0.47 ± 0.35 counts/h (significance: 1.3σ) (D2) and 0.96 ± 0.33 counts/h (significance: 2.9σ) (H2), assuming that the count in vacuum was zero. From these results, the upper limits of neutron generation in D2 and H2 were 12.2 and 17.4 neutrons/h with a confidence level of 95% (1.65σ).