Durable emission of positronium negative ions from Na- and K-coated W(100) surfaces

Abstract

The emission of positronium negative ions from Na- and K-coated W(100) surfaces has been studied. The emission efficiencies (the fractions of incident slow positrons yielding the ions) for both samples were found to be as high as 1.5%. Although the efficiencies decreased with time after coating, the effects were more durable than that for Cs coating. In particular, the efficiency after Na coating was still higher than 0.5% after three days. The successful development of a durable Ps− source opens the door to a new era of experimental investigations on the Ps− ion.