Excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles

We systematically investigate the effects of intense pressures on the excitation energies of helium trapped in bubbles in order to deepen our understanding of the fundamental physics of atoms in extreme conditions. The (Formula presented.) excitation energy of a confined helium atom is known to diff...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pyper, N, Naginey, T, Nellist, P, Whelan, C
Format: Journal article
Published: Taylor and Francis 2017
_version_ 1797078456609013760
author Pyper, N
Naginey, T
Nellist, P
Whelan, C
author_facet Pyper, N
Naginey, T
Nellist, P
Whelan, C
author_sort Pyper, N
collection OXFORD
description We systematically investigate the effects of intense pressures on the excitation energies of helium trapped in bubbles in order to deepen our understanding of the fundamental physics of atoms in extreme conditions. The (Formula presented.) excitation energy of a confined helium atom is known to differ from that of a free atom being greater in both the bulk liquid or solid or a bubble confined in a metallic matrix state. We compare calculations for the energy shift with both laboratory experiments for bulk systems and results derived from scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) studies of helium nanobubbles embedded in different matrices. We find excellent agreement between our calculations and the latest extensive measurements in the bulk. However, we find significant discrepancies when we compare with results deduced using the ‘standard’ approach for analysing STEM data. Here, we show the scattering matrix element determining the intensity of this excitation in a STEM experiment is significantly affected by the same environmental factors that shift the excitation energy. Consequently, there is a serious theoretical inconsistency in the way the STEM results are calculated, in that the ‘standard’ approach depends on a supposedly known (Formula presented.) scattering cross section, whereas we show here that this cross section is itself dependent on the environment. Correcting for this inconsistency does not, in itself, improve agreement.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T00:32:06Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:80292869-7f63-468a-bbd2-b492f16b117e
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-07T00:32:06Z
publishDate 2017
publisher Taylor and Francis
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:80292869-7f63-468a-bbd2-b492f16b117e2022-03-26T21:21:31ZExcited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubblesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:80292869-7f63-468a-bbd2-b492f16b117eSymplectic Elements at OxfordTaylor and Francis2017Pyper, NNaginey, TNellist, PWhelan, CWe systematically investigate the effects of intense pressures on the excitation energies of helium trapped in bubbles in order to deepen our understanding of the fundamental physics of atoms in extreme conditions. The (Formula presented.) excitation energy of a confined helium atom is known to differ from that of a free atom being greater in both the bulk liquid or solid or a bubble confined in a metallic matrix state. We compare calculations for the energy shift with both laboratory experiments for bulk systems and results derived from scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) studies of helium nanobubbles embedded in different matrices. We find excellent agreement between our calculations and the latest extensive measurements in the bulk. However, we find significant discrepancies when we compare with results deduced using the ‘standard’ approach for analysing STEM data. Here, we show the scattering matrix element determining the intensity of this excitation in a STEM experiment is significantly affected by the same environmental factors that shift the excitation energy. Consequently, there is a serious theoretical inconsistency in the way the STEM results are calculated, in that the ‘standard’ approach depends on a supposedly known (Formula presented.) scattering cross section, whereas we show here that this cross section is itself dependent on the environment. Correcting for this inconsistency does not, in itself, improve agreement.
spellingShingle Pyper, N
Naginey, T
Nellist, P
Whelan, C
Excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles
title Excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles
title_full Excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles
title_fullStr Excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles
title_full_unstemmed Excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles
title_short Excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles
title_sort excited helium under high pressures in the bulk and in nanobubbles
work_keys_str_mv AT pypern excitedheliumunderhighpressuresinthebulkandinnanobubbles
AT nagineyt excitedheliumunderhighpressuresinthebulkandinnanobubbles
AT nellistp excitedheliumunderhighpressuresinthebulkandinnanobubbles
AT whelanc excitedheliumunderhighpressuresinthebulkandinnanobubbles