Nitrogen distribution measurements by neutron induced autoradiography

A method utilizing plastic track detectors was developed to determine the nitrogen distribution and concentration in the presence of boron in metals. Experiments were performed at the UVAR (cadmium ratio ∼25) and the NIST Reactor (cadmium ratio ∼3000). The minimum detectable concentration of nitrogen at a given concentration of boron has been estimated using the detector's response to 10B(n,α)7Li reaction products in terms of track size distribution. The capability of the technique to detect nitrogen in the presence of boron has been demonstrated using 316L stainless steel with a nitrogen concentration of ∼560 ppm and a boron concentration of ∼0.86 ppm. (author)