Intrinsic localized modes in polymers and hyperconductors

Abstract

The history of the experimental study of nonlinear lattice excitations in layered silicate materials, when exposed to swift particles of appreciable momentum is described briefly. For brevity, and because of the difficulty of studying the structure of the lattice excitations, the term quodon was adopted to reflect their ballistic and quasione-dimensional propagative nature. Quodons in muscovite were observed experimentally. Eventually, it was deduced that the lattice excitations were carrying an electric charge. This led to the prediction of hyperconductivity (HC) in which charge is carried ballistically by neutral, mobile lattice excitations in absence of a driving electromotive force and at any temperature. HC was later observed experimentally. For practical applications of HC, it is necessary to encase the HC material in an insulating sheath. This focused attention on the behavior of insulating materials in the presence of quodons. These could enter the sheath by direct contact with the HC material or by the impact of the swift particles. It was found that quodons can exist and propagate in many different materials, perhaps all, but their behavior can vary dramatically. This universality and charge neutrality, together with their unexpected existence in the excellent insulator polytetrafluoroethylene, probably accounts for the delay in finding evidence of their existence.

A semiclassical model for charge transfer along ion chains in silicates

“…Localized energy transport in muscovite has been observed experimentally [6], and it has been deduced that dark tracks are produced by positive charge [7,8]. Subsequently, charge transport has been observed experimentally in muscovite [9] and other silicates [10][11][12][13]. Different tracks suggest different types of carriers [43].…”

“…When this reservoir was exhausted, the only charge available was the one provided by the alpha particles. More experiments were done with other silicates [10] and other materials as it was developed a test to distinguish hyperconductivity and to separate quodon currents from Ohmic currents in semiconductors or conductors [11,12]. The authors recommend a recent review on the subject [13].…”

Quodon Current in Tungsten and Consequences for Tokamak Fusion Reactors

“…Based on experiments with 5 MeV He ions, quodons can exist and propagate through 0.7 m of PTFE, 2 m of iron, and 1.1 km of copper wire. [ 37 ] So far, no condensed material has been found in which quodons cannot exist. For the first time, we use these results to examine the possible consequences of the generation of quodons in prototype tokamak fusion reactors.…”

“…Third, it was found that quodons can carry charge through insulators, thereby shorting quodon currents to ground in coaxial cables. [36,37] Also, there are few situations where significant fluences of quodons are created by high-energy ions irradiating a surface. Examples are ion-implantation systems, proton beams for tumor therapy, and fusion reactors.…”

A new process for recording minute disturbances to a crystal

“…2 They are decoupled from phonons and their stability is independent of temperature up to at least 700 K. Using a triple-filter technique to discriminate against conduction currents, it was found they can trap and carry a single unit of charge, of either sign, through metals and insulating materials with minimal loss of energy. 3 When created charge-neutral, there is no know way to detect them within a solid except by their recorded tracks in muscovite. However, they can be detected when they are inelastically reflected at a vacuum interface causing ejection of the last atom at the surface.…”