Positron and positronium studies of silica aerogel

Abstract

Variable-energy positron annihilation spectroscopy (VEPAS) has been used to probe the structure of gold nanoparticles suspended in a silica aerogel matrix by measuring the annihilation parameters S and W, and the ortho-positronium (o-Ps) fraction parameter F, as a function of incident positron energy. Correction methods have been developed to improve the sensitivity of F by removing background contributions to the number of recorded o-Ps annihilation events. Charging effects have also been observed and investigated.