New uses of the Sandia-Albuquerque nuclear microprobe

Nuclear microprobe analysis finds its greatest utility for studies requiring extremely high sensitivity, non-destructive depth profiling, quantitative light element detection and for in-air analyses. While the external-beam examination of deuterium accumulation and impurity deposition on fusion reactor components remains the primary application of the Sandia-Albuquerque probe, new uses of the probe in materials research areas have been found recently. These areas include: high temperature superconductors, buried layers in semiconductors, tribology, and failure analysis of integrated circuits. This paper will review these new application areas in addition to highlighting examples of newly developed external D-profiling capability