Particle-accelerator-based studies of electromigration and high-Tc superconductors

This thesis concerned with the use of ion-beam materials analysis techniques for studies in two separate areas: The first section describes the He-p forward recoil technique and its use for the study of the electromigration of hydrogen in metals. A review of theories of the microscopic driving force of electromigration is included, and methods for simulating He-p forward recoil energy spectra are discussed. Measurements of the effective charge of hydrogen in the metals vanadium, tantalum, and niobium are presented and compared to previous measurements. The effective charge and diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in titanium have also been measured using this technique. The second subject discussed is the use of ion-beam techniques for the study of high-temperature superconducting oxides such as Ba2Y1Cu3O7-y. A technique for determining the composition of metal oxide samples, including oxygen content, is demonstrated. The effects of annealing Ba2Y1Cu3O7-y in the presence of water vapor and exposure to hydrogen plasmas are also investigated