Most texts I've read focus on just the nuclei to begin with, but eventually start talking about Helium (or other) atoms and isotopes. A few aspects aren't clear to me and I'd be grateful for some explanations. My understanding below may be erroneous in parts. A good reference for a beginner that contains clear phenomenological explanations would also help.
I understand that in very hot plasma, like the Sun's core, electrons do exist but are unbound as are protons, and both move with very high velocities (high temperature), electrons moving faster than protons due to lower mass. Now, a head-on collision of two very fast protons can, with small but non-zero probability, latch them together and one of them can decay into a neutron (plus neutrino plus positron), thus fusing into a deuteron (the nucleus of a deuterium). As deuterons are heavier and larger than protons, the larger size makes it easier for them to bump into other protons, and the larger mass, hence larger inertia, helps them overcome the Coulomb barrier more easily in order to fuse further with a proton (*). That's fine, but so far we still have only a nucleus, specifically a 3He nucleus (2 protons, 1 neutron). Texts I've read at this point talk about 3He, as in 3He atoms, but that would require 2 bound electrons, i.e. it wouldn't be an atom yet.
At which point do electrons get bound and how, or do they get bound at all? Is it because once we get a deuteron, this nucleus is much slower and hence a passing electron will get instantly snatched by the Coulomb force? This would imply that a passing electron is snatched and gets bound every time a new proton fuses.
(*) It's unclear to me whether deuteron-proton fusion is more likely than proton-proton fusion. A deuteron is fairly weakly bound, so a proton knocking it can also split it. The proportion of split vs fuse is unclear, as are the conditions for one and the other to happen (geometry, rotation, vibration state?).
Another aspect that's less clear regards tritium and D-T fusion.
First, how exactly do tritons come to form inside the sun? Is it because of (*) above? i.e. the deuteron nucleus is fairly weekly bound, hence a proton knocking it that splits it produces a free neutron which can then fuse with an existing deuteron?
Assume we have $D$ and $T$. Texts claim that when a $D$ and $T$ collide they always stick (fuse) whereas when $D$ and $D$ collide they almost never stick as that would require a photon to be emitted in order to stick which doesn't usually happen (this photon emission part i'm unclear on). Why is $D$-$T$ almost guaranteed to result in fusion and $D$-$D$ is not?
