Hydrogen Studies Including Simulations for Three Body Association and Development of In-Situ Silicon Passivation

Hydrogen, for many years, has been a gateway for understanding physics in all measures and strides. This paper adds to this vibrant tradition of hydrogen, first with a computational analysis of a proposed experiment to investigate the formation via three body association of the first molecules of the universe, diatomic hydrogen and secondly with development of a technique to terminate the surface of a silicon crystal with hydrogen isotopes to eventually make measurements of the neutrino mass.

In order for the three body association of hydrogen to occur, particular temperature and density constraints must be met. These have been fleshed out in the following pages. A computational simulation of a hexapole lens acting on the hydrogen atoms suggests that it would be possible to create an experiment to make the first ever measurements of the spin-depolarized chemical process that created the first molecules. The simulation shows that using a Gaussian cube of 1E6 hydrogen atoms at a temperature of 10E-9 K and a hexapole lens capable of creating a field gradient of 1E6 Tesla per square meter, a density of 1E21 atoms per cubic meter would be achieved. Then with a laser probing for hydrogen molecules, the first spin-depolarized measurements of three body association of hydrogen could be made.

This work also reviews a technique in the final stages of development for tritium passivated silicon in vacuum. There are many advantages to using tritium passivated silicon as a source for beta decay electrons. The passivation quality from the developing technique can be addressed using elastic scattering of helium off of the passivated surface.