Material-Dependent Electron Screening in Rare-Earth Metals and Its Potential Role in Future Fusion-Based Propulsion Concepts
11th International Conference on Recent Advances in Air and Space Technologies, Conference Program, RAST 2026, İstanbul, Türkiye, 13 - 15 Mayıs 2026, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
- Doi Numarası: 10.1109/rast69551.2026.11672538
- Basıldığı Şehir: İstanbul
- Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Deuteron-deuteron fusion reactions, mesh materials, rare earth elements, space technology
- Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Low-energy deuteron-deuteron fusion reactions provide an important framework for studying electron screening effects in condensed-matter environments. In this work, the material dependence of the deuteron-deuteron fusion cross section is investigated for several rare-earth and early transition metals, including lutetium, neodymium, lanthanum, and yttrium. The analysis is based on a dielectric-function description of electron screening combined with Thomas-Fermi estimates of the screening potential. The deuterium-to-metal stoichiometric ratio is evaluated to estimate the deuteron density in the lattice and its influence on the screening energy.In addition to bulk metallic environments, a structured mesh geometry is considered to explore possible modifications of the local electronic environment and their impact on the effective Coulomb barrier. Using an energy-shift formalism, screened cross sections are calculated within a specific energy range and compared with the corresponding bare cross sections. Resonance contributions are also included to estimate the total low-energy fusion probability.The results indicate that both material-dependent electron density and mesh-induced electronic structure effects can enhance the low-energy deuteron-deuteron fusion cross-section. These findings suggest that rare-earth metallic systems may provide a useful platform for studying material-assisted fusion processes and screening phenomena relevant to condensed-matter nuclear science and advanced space propulsion systems.