Processes in condensed inert gases involving excess electrons

Low-temperature electrical discharge through solid xenon

“…Quite natural and important from viewpoint of possible application at high and ultrahigh pressure is the question what should happen at atomic densities higher than those characteristic for solid and liquid states at normal conditions. In other words, one should distinguish whether high mobility of excess electron is a consequence of accidental coincidence of the density of condensed heavy rare gases at normal conditions -about 3×10 22 ñm -3 -with the density when the compensation of an electron attraction and repulsion to atomic system provides the weakness of its interaction with media [20], or that high mobil-ity has to last in wide range of densities, and consequently pressures. Of course, high pressures should induce the other effects as well and they will be analyzed in this work too.…”

“…First of these is a drop of the mobility of excess electrons when a pressure increases above atmospheric one at which the reduced mobility of excess electrons in solid xenon exceeds by three-four orders of magnitude that in gases of the same pressure [19]. That high electron mobility can be explained by existence of Voronoi-Delone channels between xenon atoms, where a slow electron propagate [20]; these regions will disappear at high pressures resulting in significant decrease of slow electrons mobility.…”