Coincidence Doppler broadening study on hydrocarbons with pi and sigma valence electrons: positronium correction

The coincidence Doppler broadening (CDB) technique was applied to study the electron momentum distribution in anthracene, diphenyl, naphthalene, and polystyrene. A method for separation of the positron and positronium (Ps) components from the Doppler-broadened annihilation line (DBAL) was developed further to be applicable to hydrocarbons with different π and σ valence electron distributions. This method allows extraction of the electron momentum distribution (EMD) from DBAL for samples when Ps formation occurs. The annihilation on π valence electrons was detected as broadening of the EMD compared to that obtained for a polymer sample only with σ valence electrons. The broadening appeared as a significant change in the shape of the CDB ratio of the corresponding positronium-corrected curves: a slight enhancement above the unity line in the low-momentum region and a drop in the momentum region, 10–20×10−3moc.