Published March 11, 2008 | Version v1
Journal article Metadata-only

Surface characterization of diamond-like carbon for ultracold neutron storage

Creators

  • 1. Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-3052 Villigen (Switzerland)
  • 2. Universitaet der Bundeswehr Muenchen, D-85577 Neubiberg (Germany)
  • 3. ETH Zuerich, CH-8093 Zurich (Switzerland)
  • 4. University Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich (Switzerland)
  • 5. Stefan Meyer Institute, Vienna (Austria)
  • 6. Marian Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Cracow (Poland)

Description

We report the characterization of diamond-like carbon (DLC) surfaces to be used for the storage of ultracold neutrons (UCN). The samples investigated were 100-300-nm-thick tetragonal amorphous carbon (ta-C) coatings produced by vacuum-arc technology on thin foils (0.1-0.2 mm aluminum, stainless steel, PET). The diamond sp3 fraction was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to be in the range 45-65%. Secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) yielded consistent results for the hydrogen contribution (about 1x1016 cm-2 within the top 20 nm), strongly concentrated within a surface layer of 1 nm thickness. The boron contamination was found to be around 50 at. ppm. The fractional hole area of the coatings is on a level of about 1x10-4. Temperature cycling of mechanically pre-stressed samples between 77 and 380 K revealed no detrimental effect

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2007.12.037

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1016/j.nima.2007.12.037;
PII
S0168-9002(07)02500-4;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Journal Volume
587
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
p. 82-88
ISSN
0168-9002
CODEN
NIMAER

INIS

Country of Publication
Netherlands
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
39066276
Subject category
S46: INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY;
Descriptors DEI
ALUMINIUM; BORON; COATINGS; CONTAMINATION; DETECTION; DIAMONDS; FOILS; HOLES; HYDROGEN; ION MICROPROBE ANALYSIS; MASS SPECTROSCOPY; RECOILS; STAINLESS STEELS; SURFACES; THICKNESS; ULTRACOLD NEUTRONS; X RADIATION; X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
Descriptors DEC
ALLOYS; BARYONS; CARBON; CARBON ADDITIONS; CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; COLD NEUTRONS; DIMENSIONS; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES; ELEMENTS; FERMIONS; HADRONS; HIGH ALLOY STEELS; IONIZING RADIATIONS; IRON ALLOYS; IRON BASE ALLOYS; METALS; MICROANALYSIS; MINERALS; NEUTRONS; NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS; NONMETALS; NUCLEONS; PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY; RADIATIONS; SEMIMETALS; SPECTROSCOPY; STEELS; TRANSITION ELEMENT ALLOYS

Optional Information

Copyright
Copyright (c) 2008 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.