Determination of alpha contaminated soil profiles using Nuclear Track Detectors

Nuclear Track Detectors (NTD's) are a useful option forin situ measurements of the distribution of alpha contamination as a function of soil depth. The contamination profile of alpha emitting elements, e.g. Pu, Am and U, can be determined by detecting their alpha emission at varying depths. This paper discusses a stake type device, containing strips of CR-39 (allyl diglycol carbonate) that can be inserted into the soil up to ten centimeters or more, depending on the firmness of the soil. The CR-39 is exposed directly to the contaminated soil for a few hours. The stake is then withdrawn from the soil, the plastic detectors recovered and the alpha tracks developed by chemical etching with KOH. The distribution of tracks can be used to determine the alpha contamination depth profile as well as for detecting hot spots. It has a sensitivity of less than a pCi/g of soil.Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract W-7405-ENG-48.     

Investigation of gain and hyperfine splitting in the niobium X-ray laser

Neon-like niobium X-ray lasers have been studied using both slab and thin-foil target geometries. Niobium foils of various lengths were irradiated from both sides with two beams of the frequency-doubled Nova laser system using a line focus. We looked for gain by measuring spectrally integrated line intensities at different plasma lengths. Gain was observed in four neon-like niobium lines corresponding to 3s–3p transitions. The line profile of theJ = 0–1 line ( = 145.9 ) shows splitting due to the hyperfine effect. Improved contrast in the hyperfine structure is observed as the plasma length is increased. Hyperfine splitting may be relevant to other 3s–3p transitions in neon-like niobium as well as other neon-like X-ray laser systems.     

Interdiffusion studies in Bi-based layered systems with nanosecond laser pulses

Interdiffusion processes are induced by nanosecond laser pulses from an excimer laser. The Bi-based systems studied are formed by a Bi layer and a Sb or Ge layer. Configurations with Bi at the surface layer or at the innermost layer are both studied. Real-time reflectivity measurements are performed during the irradiation to determine the process kinetics and times and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry is used to obtain the concentration depth profiles. It will be shown that there is an interfacially initiated diffusion process in the Bi-Sb system and that the diffusion coefficients of this system within the liquid phase are in the 10^–5–10^–6 cm²/s range. The Bi-Ge system shows instead little mixing, the diffusion coefficients of the system within the liquid phase being at least two orders of magnitude lower. The differences observed when Bi is the surface layer or the innermost one are related to the different thermal responses of the system.