Results of examinations of changes in structure, element, and isotope composition of cathodes after the glow discharge exposure in hydrogen, deuterium, argon, and xenon are submitted. The voltage of the discharge was less than 1000 V and the current was 5-150 mA. Samples before and after ions bombardment in the glow discharge were explored by the methods of mass spectrometry: the secondary ions (SIMS), the secondary ions with additional ionization of neutral sprayed particles (SNMS), spark (SMS), and thermo-ionization (TIMS), and also methods of energy dispersion X-ray spectral analysis (EDX). The alpha-, beta-, gamma-emission, and gamma-spectrometry for radioactive uranium specimens were also carried out before and after experiments in the glow discharge. Changes in structure, isotope, and element composition of the cathode samples depend on current density, integrated ions flow (fluence of ions), kind of irradiating ions and other experimental conditions. Attempts are made to estimate qualitatively and quantitatively the role of each of the parameters on intensity of the observed changes in cathode composition. It is shown that the maximum changes in structure, chemical and isotope composition of the cathode material occur in "hot points," such as craters from microexplosions, phase segregations, blisters and other new formations. Various methods of the analysis revealed that the basic elements Mg, O, Si, Al, and Ca with quantities up to per cents and more were prevailing in these zones and not found out before experiment. The greatest changes of the isotope relations were observed for iron, calcium, silicon, chromium after experiments with pulsing current. EDX method finds out the elements missing in the samples before experiment such as cadmium, strontium, tin. The isotopes with mass number 59 (Co 100%), 55 (Mn 100%), 45 (Sc 100%) are also not found in initial samples and background measurement by TIMS method. Results of changes in the element and isotope composition, which are found by various methods of the analysis, are compared with possible reactions of fusion-fission. It is noted that under different experimental conditions on various cathode materials similar groups of prevailing elements are find by various methods of the analysis.

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In this study we report on the surface structure, distribution and isotopic composition of elements found on Ti cathodes before and after glow discharge in plasma, during which excess heat was produced. Irradiation was carried out with deuterium ions with a discharge voltage below 1000 volts, with a current of 10 to 20 mA.The analysis of the surface structure and of elemental composition of the Ti sample was carried out with a scanning electron microscope with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), which can detect impurities at concentrations as low as 0.2 atomic %. New metallic phase formation and newly present elements were revealed by the EDS method in several different, separate active spots on the cathode surface, with concentrations ranging from 0.3% up to 10 or 20% or more. Al, Mg, Br, Sr were found at~0.3%, Rb~0.4%, S~1.0%, F~10%, O >20%, Ni~(0.3 -20)%, Cr 1.4%, Fe~4.0%, Sn (~0.4 to~5.0)% were detected by this method after the experiment and were not in the as-received sample before the experiment. The basic changes are observed in places of microexplosions, micromeltings and structural inhomogeneities. Investigation of the isotopic composition was carried out by Thermal Ionization Mass Spectroscopy (TIMS). Additional elements in a thin surface layer were found by this method when analysis was performed at 1900ºC. The Ti cathode produced excess heat during glow discharge, estimated at 10 to 20% above input power. This suggests that the heat was caused by the formation of the observed new elements. It is necessary to note that excess heat was created by the processes in a sample having weight of 0.7 gram in a device weighing 5 kg.At the same time thermal losses with the water cooling of anode, losses through a quartz wall of the discharge chamber and the losses in metal flanges were not taken into account. In the experiments with other cathode materials (including Mo, W and Zr) under the same experimental conditions, no excess heat was observed and thermal losses were roughly 40%.