Application of α-spectrometry to the study of U diffusion in nuclear reactor materials

Abstract

An experimental method used to study U diffusion at infinite dilution in materials is presented in this work. The spectra of a particles emitted by U at different depth in the material, after the diffusion annealing, is converted into diffusion profiles combining the knowledge on the stopping power of a-particles coming from particles accelerators into an algorithm developed here.Details of sample preparation and experimental set-up is given, as much as depth resolution and limits for the diffusion coefficients attainable with this technique. Diffusion of U in Mo and a-Ti are measured at several temperatures in order to check the technique.