Knowledge Bank

Experiments will be described in which solid deuterium is irradiated by a 15 MeV proton beam. The charges created by the beam give rise to ``charged induced absorption'' in the infrared spectrum of deuterium. This effect will be discussed in some detail. In addition, absorption in the IR and UV is observed which appears to be due to localized electrons, either in traps or in the form of small polarons. The growth and decay of these spectral features can be studied after switching the beam on or off. It is found that the charges created in the crystal by the beam are, at sufficiently low temperature, very long lived.