Authors

Nicholas Byrnes

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

Aluminum is an easily oxidized metal that can provide some valuable insight to the nature of positron-electron annihilation. In order to circumvent accidental analysis of the aluminum-oxide surface layer, our aluminum sample was first biased to 20 kilovolts, allowing the positrons to penetrate the surface layer and annihilate within the bulk of the aluminum, then later biased to 200 volts to display the broadened spectrum in the presence of Al2O3. The results we gathered will allow us to compare pre-existing data to that collected by RS Brusa, who used aluminum as a standard in all of his Doppler-Broadened measurements. By comparing our results with Brusa’s, we can confirm that our recently completed positron beam apparatus is functioning properly. This also allows us to better compare Copper and Graphene data previously collected with measurements available in the literature. This information will allow for further research into the topic of positronelectron annihilation in aluminum, such as possible correlations between plasmons and positronium formation.

Publication Date

5-1-2018

Language

English

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