Target thickness determinations from a study of contaminant hydrogen distributions

From the observation that hydrogen is a common, stable contaminant of many materials, it follows that the thickness of targets used in many nuclear experiments can be inferred from the distribution of hydrogen throughout the depth of the target. The resonant nuclear reaction 1H(19F,αγ)160, a sensitive probe for hydrogen, provides a very suitable method for determining target thickness greater than about 15μg/cm2.(Auth.)