# Does fusion only occur with ions?

In nuclear fusion, the particles require enough energy to overcome the Coulomb barrier. The Coulomb barrier is caused by the Coulomb force, which is created by the protons repelling each other because all protons (and therefore nuclei) are positively charged. But my question is: does fusion occur when electrons are present i.e. with atoms and not ions? It would make sense that it doesn’t since electrons are negatively charged and should push each other away as well, but I don’t know.

• You mean "electrons are negatively charged". – anna v Oct 14 '19 at 12:30
• @annav ah yes that’s right – Melvin Oct 14 '19 at 12:33
• The energies binding electrons to the atom are of the order of KeV. The energies that bind a nucleus together are of order of MeV. That is why atoms are easily stripped of their electrons at the plasma temperatures,of order of 100.000.000 Celsius which are needed for fusion, at ITER for example iter.org – anna v Oct 14 '19 at 12:48

The typical Coulomb barrier that needs to be overcome (or tunneled through) in order for two protons to fuse is of order $$q^2/4\pi \epsilon_0 r$$, where $$q$$ is the (positive) ion charge (assuming the fusion of two similar ions) and $$r$$ is around $$10^{-15}$$ m, where the strong nuclear force dominates over Coulomb repulsion. The minimum value for this is around 1.4 MeV in the case of two protons.
In stars and in nuclear fusion reactors, the fusing particles are given sufficient energy to overcome the Coulomb barrier by making them hot (typically $$10^{7}$$ to $$10^{8}$$ K). Such high temperatures will inevitably mean that the atoms are completely ionised. The electrons do not play any significant role in the energetics of the fusion reactions and effectively form a pseudo-uniformly distributed background of negative charge.