Analysis of mineral powder mixtures by heavy ion bombardment and X-ray diffraction

The analysis of mineral powder mixtures heavy ion bombardment and x-ray diffraction is reported. The paper was presented at the International Conference on radiation effects in insulators, Guildford (United Kingdom) 1985. Argon ions (3MeV) were used to bombard a monolayer of power of size approx. 5μm at a fluence of 4 ions/nm2. The x-ray patterns taken after heavy ion irradiation were compared with those taken before irradiation. Some examples are given where the components of the mixture have different damage cross-sections and significant differential effects are observed on the diffraction lines of the mixture. The results show that heavy ion bombardment can facilitate the separation of x-ray diffraction lines in the analysis of powder mixtures. (U.K.)