Hydrogen radical anions and electron bubbles in solid hydrogen

Theoretical support for the recent finding of the formation of electron bubbles (excess electrons trapped in vacancies) in crystalline H2 containing a small amount of D2 has been given. Quantum-mechanical calculations have shown that the addition of D2 lowers the energy of the electron bubbles by expanding the volume of the vacancies, which prevents the conversion of the electron bubbles to H2− anions.